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'    mmmmmiwm'' 


DICTIONARY    OF   AMERICANISMS. 


A    GLOSSARY 


WORDS  AND   PHRASES 


USUALLY  EEGAKDED   A3  PECULLA.R  TO 


THE    UNITED    STATES. 


BY 


JOHN    KUSSELL    BARTLETT. 


SECOND    EDITION, 

GBKATLY  IMPROVED  AND  ENLABOED. 


BOSTON: 
LITTLE,    BROWN    AND    COMPANY. 

LONDON:    TRUBNEB    AND    COMPANY. 
185  9. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congi-ess,  in  the  year  1859,  by 

JOHN    RUSSELL    BARTLETT, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Rhode  Island. 


CAMBRIDGE: 
ALLEN  AND   FABNHAM,   STEREOTYPERS  AND  PRINTERS. 


PEEFACE 

TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


The  first  edition  of  this  Dictionary  was  published  in  New  York  in  1848. 
It  met  with  a  quick  sale,  and  soon  passed  out  of  print.  Aware  of  its  many 
imperfections,  I  began  my  preparations  for  a  new  edition  before  it  had  fully 
left  the  press.  From  that  time  to  the  day  the  last  sheets  of  this  edition  left 
my  hands  for  the  printer,  now  ten  years,  I  have  been  more  or  less  occupied 
in  its  preparation.  Nearly  three  years  of  this  period  I  spent  in  the  interior 
of  the  country,  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  as  Commissioner  on  the 
Mexican  Boundary ;  but  even  there,  I  failed  not  to  note  the  peculiarities  of 
the  familiar  language  of  the  frontier,  and  carefully  recorded  the  words  and 
phrases  I  met  with  for  future  use.  This  experience  enabled  me  to  collect 
the  singular  words  occurring  in  prairie  and  frontier  life  as  well  as  those  com- 
mon to  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  California.  Most  of  these  have  come  from 
the  Spanish,  and  are  now  fairly  engrafted  on  our  language. 

The  other  alterations  and  improvements  made  in  this  edition,  consist  in 
the  addition  of  a  very  large  number  of  words  and  phrases  peculiar  to  the 
United  States ;  so  that  it  now  contains  probably  twice  as  many  as  the  first 
edition.  The  examples  or  illustrations  from  authors,  showing  the  use  of 
words,  have  also  been  greatly  multiplied.  This  seemed  desirable,  as  exam- 
ples convey  a  far  more  correct  idea  of  their  meaning  and  use  than  a  simple' 
definition.  The  histories  of  words  and  their  definitions  have  also  been 
corrected  and  improved. 

In  the  additions  to  this  work,  I  have  to  acknowledge  valuable  contribu- 

(iii) 


IV  PREFACE 

tions  from  several  friends,  who  took  an  interest  in  the  subject.  To  the  Rev. 
"Wm.  S.  Murphy,  President  of  the  University  of  Missouri,  I  am  indebted 
for  many  words  and  phrases  peculiar  to  the  West.  To  Mr.  John  Gil- 
mar  y  Shea  for  NeAv  York  words ;  to  Dr.  A.  L.  Elwyn  of  Philadelphia, 
for  the  use  of  a  manuscript  vocabulary  of  Americanisms  collected  by  him ; 
to  Mr.  James  Mitchell,  of  Nantucket,  for  words  in  use  in  that  island; 
to  Professor  Geo.  C.  Schaeffer  of  Washington,  for  many  terms  of  nat- 
ural history,  words  relating  to  the  arts,  and  Westernisms ;  and  to  Dr.  Francis 
LiEBER,  of  Columbia  College,  New  York,  for  many  sound  remarks,  of  which 
I  have  availed  myself  in  the  pages  of  the  work. 

Large  additions  have  been  made  to  the  common  terms  of  plants,  trees,  and 
fruits  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  of  those  which  enter  into  our  com- 
merce. These,  being  familiar  words  of  our  language,  seem  as  worthy  of 
being  noted  and  explained  as  others.  For  valuable  contributions  to  this 
class  of  w^ords  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Edward  Foreman,  of  Washington  ; 
while  Mr.  Alex.  J.  Cotheal,  a  merchant  of  New  York,  and  well  known 
in  the  field  of  Oriental  literature,  has  kindly  furnished  me  the  common 
names  of  the  trees,  fruits,  nuts,  etc.  which  enter  into  our  commerce. 

In  preparing  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  I  was  at  a  loss  what  to  include 
in  the  collection  of  words  ;  and,  preferring  to  err  on  the  side  of  copiousness, 
admitted  many  words  common  to  the  colloquial  language  of  England  and 
this  country,  which  have  now  been  rejected  to  make  way  for  pure  Ameri- 
canisms.  Of  the  words  so  rejected  there  are  nearly  eight  hundred ;  the  fol- 
lowing are  examples  :  above-board,  Adam's  ale,  to  advocate,  afeard,  afore, 
afterclaps,  bamboozle,  to  bark  one's  shins,  bobtail,  bogtrotter,  bolt-Upright, 
boozy,  bo-peep,  to  bore,  born  days,  bran  new,  brown  study,  hy-the-by,  to  hold 
a  candle,  to  catch  a  Tartar,  caterwaul,  catspaw,  to  chalk  out,  chink,  chouse, 
chuffy,  circumbendibus,  clap-trap,  clincher,  clout,  cool,  cosey,  cowlick, 
crambo,  criss-cross,  cross-grained,  crotchety,  crowsfeet,  curmudgeon,  curry 
favor,  to  cut  one's  acquaintance,  cut  and  run,  cut  a  dash,  dabster,  dead 
alive,  dawdle,  demijohn,  duds,  Dick's  hatband,  dilly-dally,  dog  cheap, 
down  in  the  mouth,  driving  at,  dumpy,  elbow  grease,  to  feather  one's 
nest,  etc.,  etc. 

A  good  many  such  words  have  nevertheless  been  retain'ed,  on  the  princi- 
ple that  a  word  now  used  only  in  some  out-of-the-way  locality  in  England, 
but  quite  general  here,  may  be  regarded  as  a  pecuharity  of  the  English 


TO   THE  SECOKD   EDITION.  V 

language  as  spoken  in  America,  i.  e.  an  Americanism ;  but  as  it  is  often 
impossible  to  know  with  exactness  to  what  extent  a  word  is  used  in 
England,  it  is  likely  that  many  of  these  should  properly  have  been 
omitted. 

Many  words  conmion  to  the  colloquial  language  both  of  England  and 
America  have  been  allowed  to  remain  because  they  have  not  yet  been  hon- 
ored with  a  place  in  the  current  standard  Dictionaries.  Of  these  there  are 
many  which  in  the  glossaries  are  ascribed  to  "  various  dialects,"  and  which 
should  be  inserted  in  any  general  Dictionary  of  the  English  language  which 
aims  at  completeness.  Were  such  a  work  as  the  new  English  Dictionary 
projected  by  the  Philological  Society  of  London  already  in  existence,  the 
insertion  of  a  large  number  of  words  of  this  class  could  have  been  dispensed 
with. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  will  be  seen  that  the  present  edition,  while  it 
does  not  wholly  reject  words  of  English  origin,  claims  to  be  more  strictly 
American  than  the  first.  At  the  same  time,  the  first  edition  will  still  have 
a  value  of  its  own,  as  showing  more  fully  how  much  of  the  colloquial  lan- 
guage of  England  is  retained  in  use  in  this  country. 

Due  attention  has  been  given  to  some  valuable  criticisms  on  the  first  edi- 
tion, in  a  paper  by  the  late  Dr.  Felix  Flugel,  entitled  "  Die  englische  Phi- 
lologie  in  Nordamerika"  which  appeared  in  Gersdorf's  Eepertorium  for 
1852  ;  also,  to  criticisms  which  appeared  in  the  "  Western  Continent "  news- 
paper of  Philadelphia,  and  the  "  Literary  World  "  of  New  York,  soon  after 
the  publication  of  the  volume.  Some  excellent  illustrations  have  been  ob- 
tained fi-om  a  paper  on  "  Canadian  English,"  by  the  Rev.  A.  Constable  Gei- 
kie,  read  before  the  Canadian  Institute  28th  of  March,  1857,  and  printed  in 
its  Journal. 

The  first  edition  was  translated  into  the  Dutch  language  under  the  title 
of  "  Woordenhoeh  van  Americanismen,  etc.  Bewerkt  door  M.  Keijzer.  Gorin- 
chem,  1854,"  leaving  out  the  quotations  which  illustrate  the  use  of  words. 
It  was  hoped  that  this  work  would  furnish  assistance  in  settling  the  etymo- 
logy and  meaning  of  some  of  the  old  Dutch  words  still  used  in  Xew  York ; 
but  it  has  proved  of  little  use. 

At  the  close  of  the  book  will  be  found  a  small  collection  of  American 
similes  and  proverbs,  together  with  the  abbreviations  of  the  names  of  States, 
etc.,  which  were  inserted  in  the  body  of  the  first  edition. 

A* 


VI  PREFACE  TO  THE   SECOND   EDITION. 

To  my  friend,  Mr.  William  W.  Turner,  of  Washington,  I  take  pleasure 
in  again  making  my  acknowledgments  for  the  valuable  aid  furnished  me 
in  the  present  as  well  as  in  the  former  edition,  not  only  for  the  contribution 
of  numerous  words  and  illustrations,  but  for  his  correction  and  supervision 
of  the  whole  work. 

J.  E.  B. 

Pkovidence,  K.  I.,  March,  1859. 


PREFACE 

TO   THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


In-  venturing  to  lay  before  the  public  a  Vocabulary  of  the  colloquial  lan- 
guage of  the  United  States,  some  explanation  may  be  necessary  for  the 
broad  ground  I  have  been  led  to  occupy. 

I  began  to  make  a  list  of  such  words  as  appeared  to  be,  or  at  least  such 
as  had  generally  been  called,  Americanisms,  or  peculiar  to  the  United  States, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  made  reference  to  the  several  authors  in  whose  writ- 
ings they  appeared ;  not  knowing  whether,  in  reality,  they  were  of  native 
growth,  or  whether  they  had  been  introduced  from  England.  When  this 
list  had  expanded  so  as  to  embrace  a  large  number  of  the  words  used  in 
familiar  conversation,  both  among  the  educated  as  well  as  among  the  unedu- 
cated and  rustic  classes,  the  next  object  was  to  examine  the  dialects  and 
provincialisms  of  those  parts  of  England  from  which  the  early  settlers  of 
New  England  and  our  other  colonies  emigrated. 

The  provincialisms  of  New  England  are  more  familiar  to  our  eai's  than 
those  of  any  other  section  of  the  United  States,  as  they  are  not  confined 
;vithin  the  limits  of  those  States,  but  have  extended  to  New  York,  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan ;  which  States  have  been,  to  a  great  extent, 
settled  by  emigrants  from  New  England. 

On  comparing  these  familiar  words  with  the  provincial  and  colloquial 
language  of  the  northern  counties  of  England,  a  most  striking  resemblance 
appeared  not  only  in  the  words  commonly  regarded  as  peculiar  to  New 
England,  but  in  the  dialectical  pronunciation  of  certain  words,  and  in  the 
general  tone  and  accent.  In  fact  it  may  be  said,  without  exaggeration,  that 
nine  tenths  of  the  colloquial  pecuUarities   of  New  England  are   derived 

(vii) 


VUl  PREFACE 

directly  from  Great  Britain ;  and  that  they  are  now  provincial  in  those 
parts  from  which  the  early  colonists  emigrated,  or  are  to  be  found  in  the 
writings  of  well  accredited  authors  of  the  period  when  that  emigration  took 
place.  Consequently  it  is  obvious  that  we  have  the  best  authority  for  the 
use  of  the  words  referred  to. 

It  may  be  insisted,  therefore,  that  the  idiom  of  New  England  is  as  pure 
English,  taken  as  a  whole,  as  was  spoken  in  England  at  the  period  when 
these  colonies  were  settled.  In  making  this  assertion,"  I  do  not  take  as  a 
standard  the  nasal  twang,  the  drawling  enunciation,  or  those  perversions  of 
language  which  the  ignorant  and  uneducated  adopt.  Nor  would  I  acknow- 
ledge the  abuse  of  many  of  our  most  useful  words.  For  these  perversions 
I  make  no  other  defence  or  apology  but  that  they  occur  in  all  countries 
and  in  every  language. 

Having  found  the  case  to  be  as  stated,  I  had  next  to  decide  between  a 
vocabulary  of  words  of  purely  American  origin,  or  one  in  which  should  be 
embraced  all  those  words  usually  called  provincial  or  vulgar —  all  the  words, 
whatever  be  their  origin,  which  are  used  in  familiar  conversation,  and  but 
seldom  employed  in  composition  —  all  the  perversions  of  language,  and 
abuses  of  words  into  which  people,  in  certam  sections  of  the  country,  have 
fallen,  and  some  of  those  remarkable  and  ludicrous  forms  of  speech  which 
have  been  adopted  in  the  "Western  States.  The  latter  plan  seemed  the 
most  satisfactory,  and  this  I  determined  to  adopt.* 

With  so  broad  a  ground,  many  words  must  necessarily  be  embraced  which 
arc  to  be  found  in  the  dictionaries  of  Drs.  Johnson  and  Webster,  with  the 


*  The  term  "  Americanisms,"  as  used  in  this  Dictionary,  may  then  be  said  to  include 
the  following  classes  of  words : 

1.  Archaisms,  i.  e.  old  English  words,  obsolete,  or  nearly  so,  in  England,  but  retained 
in  use  in  this  country. 

.2.  English  words  used  in  a  different  sense  from  what  they  are  in  England.  These 
include  many  names  of  natural  objects  differently  applied. 

3.  Words  which  have  retained  their  original  meaning  in  the  United  States,  although 
not  in  England. 

4.  English  provincialisms  adopted  into  general  use  in  America. 

5.  Newly  coined  words,  which  owe  their  origin  to  the  productions  or  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  country. 

6.  Words  borrowed  from  European  languages,  especially  the  French,  Spanish,  Dutch, 
and  German. 

7.  Indian  words. 

8.  Negroisms. 

9.  Peculiarities  of  pronunciation.  —  [Note  to  Second  Edition.] 


TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION.  ix 

remark  that  they  are  low  or  vulgar,  or  only  to  be  heard  in  familiar  conver- 
sation. Another  class,  not  in  the  dictionaries  referred  to,  is  contained  in 
the  provincial  glossaries  of  England.  A  third  class,  entirely  distinct  from 
the  preceding,  consists  of  slang  words  which  are  not  noticed  by  lexicogra- 
phers, yet  are  so  much  employed  as  to  deserve  a  place  in  a  glossar}^. 

Such  is  the  plan  which  I  have  thought  most  advisable  to  adopt,  and 
which  I  hope  will  give  satisfaction.  In  carrying  out  this  plan,  I  have 
endeavored  to  give  the  most  accurate  definitions,  citing  the  authorities  in  all 
cases  where  I  have  been  enabled  to  find  any.  Except  as  regards  words  of 
purely  American  origin  (e.  g.  those  derived  from  the  Indian  languages  and 
from  the  Dutch),  I  have  generally  kept  aloof  from  etymologies  and  etymo- 
logical discussions.  These  the  reader  will  find  in  abundance  —  such  as  they 
are  —  in  the  works  of  Johnson,  Todd,  Webster,  and  others. 

Words  of  a  provincial  character,  and  such  as  have  become  obsolete  in 
composition,  are  often  of  doubtful  signification.  Illustrations,  from  well- 
known  authors,  wherein  such  words  are  employed,  are  of  service  in  arriving 
at  their  true  meaning.  These  have  been  employed  in  the  present  glossary, 
and  serve  the  double  purpose  of  illustration,  and  of  rendering  the  book 
more  readable  than  if  confined  to  a  dry  collection  of  definitions.  This 
mode  of  showing  the  sense  in  which  words  have  been  employed  by  authors, 
was  first  practised  on  a  comprehensive  scale  by  Dr.  Johnson,  whose  labors 
are  thereby  greatly  enhanced  in  value  to  the  philologist ;  and  has  since  been 
carried  out  more  completely  in  Mr.  Richardson's  dictionary. 

The  class  of  words  which  are  purely  American  in  their  origin  and  use,  I 
have  also  attempted  to  illustrate,  by  extracts  from  American  authors  whose 
writings  relate  to  that  class  of  people  among  which  these  words  are  chiefly 
found.  These  books  contain  descriptions  of  country  life,  scenes  in  the  back- 
woods, popular  tales,  etc.,  in  which  the  colloquial  or  familiar  language  of 
particular  States  predominates.  The  humorous  writings  of  Judge  Halibur- 
ton  of  Nova  Scotia  give  a  tolerably  correct  though  exaggerated  specimen 
of  the  provincialisms  of  New  England.  The  letters  of  Major  Downing  are 
of  the  same  character,  and  portray  the  dialect  of  New  England  with  less 
exaggeration.*     There   are   no   books   in  which   the  Western  words  and 

*  Among  other  books  from  which  I  have  quoted  examples  of  the  use  of  words  com- 
mon to  New  England  and  the  Northern  States,  are  Judd's  "Margaret,"  the  "Widow 
Bedott  Papers,"  "  The  Bigelow  Papers,"  and  the  Sermons  of  Dow,  Junior.  —  [Note  to- 
Second  Edition.] 


X  PREFACE 

phrases  are  so  fully  exhibited ;  though  all  the  works  which  aim  to  illustrate 
Western  life  contain  more  or  less  of  the  idioms  peculiar  to  the  people. 
Judge  Hall,  Mrs.  Kirkland  (Mary  Clavers),  the  author  of  the  New  Pur- 
chase, Charles  F.  Hoffman,  and  various  tourists,  have  displayed  in  their  se- 
veral works  the  peculiarities  of  the  people  of  the  West,  and  occasionally 
their  language.  Mr.  Crockett,  however,  himself  a  native  of  that  region, 
associating  from  infancy  with  its  woodsmen,  hunters,  and  fanners,  whose 
language  is  full  of  quaint  words  and  figures  of  speech,  has  unintentionally 
made  us  better  acquainted  with  the  colloquial  language  of  the  West  than 
any  other  author. 

I  am  also  indebted  to  a  series  of  books  published  by  Messrs.  Carey  and 
Hart,  called  the  "  Library  of  Humorous  American  Works,"  which  consist 
of  a  series  of  tales  and  adventures  in  the  South-west  and  West,  by  Wm.'  T. 
Porter,  editor  of  the  New  York  Spirit  of  the  Times ;  John  S.  Robb  and 
J.  M.  Field,  Esquires,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri ;  the  editor  of  the  New  Or- 
leans Picayune  ;  and  some  anonymous  writers.  In  these  several  works  the 
drolleries  and  quaint  sayings  of  the  West  are  admirably  incorporated  into 
tales  of  the  settlers,  their  manners  and  customs,  vivid  descriptions  of  West- 
ern scenery,  political  and  dramatic  scenes,  etc.  We  have  no  books  which 
present  so  graphic  an  account  of  Western  life,  related  in  the  exaggerated 
and  metaphorical  language  peculiar  to  the  people  of  that  region. 

In  Southern  provincialisms  I  find  myself  most  deficient,  having  seen  no 
books  except  Major  Jones's  "  Courtship "  and  "  Sketches,"  "  Georgia 
Scenes,"  and  "  Sherwood's  Gazetteer  of  Georgia,"  in  which,  however,  a 
considerable  number  of  local  words  are  to  be  found. 

The  newspapers  have  afforded  me  many  illustrations  of  the  use  of  words, 
which  I  have  not  failed  to  make  use  of.  These  illustrations,  it  will  be  seen, 
are  chiefly  from  the  New  York  papers,  viz.  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  the 
Tribune,  and  the  Herald,  for  the  simple  reason  that  I  have  been  in  the  prac- 
tice of  reading  them  daily.  When  I  met  with  a  word  or  phrase  peculiarly 
American,  or  one  which  was  employed  in  a  sense  differing  from  the  use  of 
the  same  in  England,  it  was  at  once  noticed  and  secured.  All  our  news- 
papers contain  more  or  less  colloquial  words  ;  in  fact,  there  seems  no  other 
way  of  expressing  certain  ideas  connected  with  passing  events  of  every-day 
life,  with  the  requisite  force  and  piquancy.  In  the  English  newspapers  the 
same  thing  is  observable,  and  certain  of  them  contain  more  of  the  class 


TO   THE   FIRST  EDITION.  XI 

denominated  slang  words  than  our  own.  The  "Whig  papers  throughout  the 
United  States  employ  certain  political  terms  in  advocating  the  principles  of 
their  party,  and  in  denouncing  those  of  their  opponents.  The  Democratic 
papers  pursue  a  similar  course.  The  advocates  and  opponents  of  Abolition, 
Fourierism,  etc.,  invent  and  employ  many  words  peculiar  to  themselves. 
So  with  the  religious  sects ;  each  new-fangled  notion  brings  into  existence 
some  addition  to  our  language,  though  that  addition  is.  not  always  an  im- 
provement. 

The  value  of  this  Glossary  would  have  been  greatly  enhanced,  if,  as  is 
usual  in  the  compilation  of  similar  works,  I  had  been  able  to  avail  myself 
of  the  assistance  of  persons  residing  in  various  parts  of  our  country.  No 
collection  of  words,  professing  to  contain  the  colloquial  language  of  the  en- 
tire country,  can  approach  any  degree  of  completeness  or  correctness,  with- 
out the  aid  of  many  hands  and  heads.  None  but  a  native  of  New  Eng- 
land, educated  on  her  soil,  and  who  has  mingled  with  all  classes  of  society, 
has  the  requisite  familiarity  with  the  words  and  phrases  peculiar  to  her 
people.  So  with  the  "Western  and  Southern  provincialisms.  One  bom 
and  brought  up  where  they  are  spoken,  who  has  heard  and  used  them  when 
a  boy,  and  grown  up  in  their  midst,  can  alone  portray  them  in  their  true 
sense.  The  aid  of  such  persons  it  was  impossible  to  procure,  and  the 
words  here  brought  together  have  been,  with  very  few  exceptions,  collected 
by  myself.  The  deficiencies  and  imperfections  are  such,  therefore,  as  could 
not  be  avoided  under  the  circumstances. 

The  words  of  Dutch  origin,  most  if  not  all  of  which  are  used  or  under- 
derstood  in  the  city  of  New  York  and  those  portions  of  its  vicinity  colo- 
nized by  natives  of  Holland,  were  furnished  by  Mr.  Alexander  J.  Co- 
THEAL,  a  gentleman  born  and  educated  in  New  York,  whose  learning  in 
other  branches  of  philological  science  is  well  known  to  many.  A  few 
other  words  have  been  given  me  from  time  to  time  by  other  friends,  who* 
knew  that  I  was  making  this  collection.  To  all  of  these  I  am  happy  to  ex- 
press my  acknowledgments. 

When  the  work  had  advanced  far  towards  completion,  and  one  half  had 
been  put  in  type,  the  occurrence  of  some  terms  common  in  political  language, 
the  exact  meaning  of  which  was  not  clear,  led  me  to  apply  to  my  friend  John 
Inman,  Esq.,  editor  of  the  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser,  for  aid.  He 
readily  complied  with  my  request,  and  kindly  furnished  the  definitions  of 


XU  PREFACE   TO   THE   FIRST  EDITION. 

several  terms  of  daily  occurrence  in  the  political  language  of  the  day.  I 
regret  that  I  did  not  have  his  valuable  aid  in  defining  and  illustrating  the 
use  of  words  and  phrases  which  occur  in  the  early  part  of  this  Glossary. 
The  contributions  of  Mr.  Inman  are  acknowledged  where  they  appear. 

To  my  friend  Mr.  Wm.  W.  Turner  I  am  under  great  obligations  for  aid 
rendered  me  in  preparing  this  work  for  the  press.  Mr.  Turner's  extensive 
acquaintance  with  the  European  and  Oriental  languages,  together  with  an 
unusual  sagacity  in  philological  criticism,  have  peculiarly  fitted  him  to  give 
aid  in  the  preparation  of  a  work  like  this.  I  have,  therefore,  submitted 
the  whole  to  his  supervision,  and  adopted  his  views  in  all  my  conclusions- 
At  his  suggestion  I  have  struck  out  many  etymologies  taken  from  standard 
dictionaries,  which  it  was  evident  were  wholly  erroneous. 

In  noticing  the  words  embraced  in  this  Glossary,  the  reader  will  probably 
think  that  many  have  been  admitted  which  ought  not  to  have  a  place  in  a 
Dictionary  of  American  Provincialisms.  From  what  has  alf  eady  been  said, 
it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  draw  the  line  between  what  should 
be  admitted  and  w^hat  excluded ;  and  I  have  thought  it  better  to  err  on  the 
side  of  copiousness,  than  by  too  rigid  a  system  of  selection  to  run  into  the 
opposite  extreme. 

A  careful  perusal  of  nearly  all  the  English  glossaries  has  enabled  me  to 
select  what  appeared  most  desirable  to  embrace,  and  what  to  avoid,  in  an 
American  book  of  a  similar  kind.  Cant  words,  except  such  as  are  in  gen- 
eral use,  the  terms  used  at  gaming-houses,  purely  technical  words,  and  those 
only  known  to  certain  trades,  obscene  and  blasphemous  words,  have  been 
discai'ded. 

For  a  better  understanding  of  the  subject,  as  well  as  to  show  the  impor- 
tance of  collecting  and  preserving  the  colloquial  dialects  of  our  country,  I 
bave  prefixed  to  the  Vocabulary  some  remarks  on  language,  in  which  the 
reader  will  find  that  the  study  of  dialects  and  provincialisms  is  considered 
as  worthy  the  attention  of  philologists,  as  the  investigation  of  the  language 

of  literature. 

J.  K.  B. 

New  York,  1848. 


INTRODFCTIOI^. 


DIALECTS  OF  ENGLAOT). 

The  most  recent  investigations  in  which  the  science  of  philology  has 
been  brought  to  bear  on  the  English  language,  have  shown  that  it  is  of 
purely  Gothic  origin,  descended  through  languages,  of  which  sufficient  re- 
mains to  make  grammatical  as  well  as  etymological  comparisons  practicable. 
It  is  true  that  some  have  regarded  it  as  a  perfect  mongrel,  without  any  nat- 
ural parent,  compounded  of  various  languages  and  dialects,  Greek,  Latin, 
Saxon,  French,  Welsh,  etc.,  etc.  But  although  the  language  is  very  much 
mixed,  it  is  a  question  whether  it  is  not  as  pure,  and  as  closely  allied  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Moeso-Gothic,  as  the  languages  in  the  south  of  Europe 
are  to  the  Latin.  Or,  in  other  words,  it  is  probable  that  the  English  is  not 
more  impregnated  with  words  of  the  Latin  stock,  than  the  Italian,  French, 
Spanish,  and  Portuguese  are  with  words  of  the  Teutonic  stock. 

The  natural  tendency  of  language  is  to  improve ;  and  when  a  people  can- 
not express  in  a  comprehensive  manner  a  particular  idea  or  shade  of  mean- 
ing, they  either  form  a  word  to  denote  it  from  a  root  or  roots  already  in  the 
language,  or  borrow  a  word  from  other  languages  which  expresses  it 
already. 

With  regard  to  the  English  language  this  last-mentioned  process  has 
been  adopted  to  an  extent  which,  while  it  has  enriched  our  vocabulary  with 
a  vast  number  of  terms,  has,  it  must  be  confessed,  greatly  impaired  its  re- 
productive power.  The  original  substratum  of  Anglo-Saxon  speech  has 
been  overlaid  with  multitudes  of  common  and  conversational  words  from  the 
French,  literary  and  ecclesiastical  terms  from  the  Latin,  and  technicalities 
from  the  Greek ;  and  the  process  is  constantly  going  on.  Yet  in  spite  of 
these  immense  accessions  to  its  vocabulary,  the  structure  of  the  English  has 
remained  in  all  essential  respects  the"  same  from  the  period  when  it  first 
became  a  language.     Moreover,  the  number  of  foreign  importations  con- 

B  (^0 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

tained  in  our  dictionaries,  gives  by  no  means  a  correct  idea  of  the  number  of 
such  words  which  we  actually  make  use  of.  The  greater  part  of  our  house- 
hold, colloquial,  and  poetical  expressions  are  Saxon,  and  so  are  all  those  im- 
portant words  called  particles,  on  which  the  whole  structure  of  speech  hinges  ; 
whereas  an  immense  number  of  the  words  derived  from  other  sources  belong 
exclusively  to  the  language  of  books,  and  many  even  to  particular  sciences. 

There  is  another  fact  to  be  observed,  which  is,  that  these  different  classes 
of  words  are  not  used  in  the  same  proportion  by  all  members  of  society. 
Persons  without  education,  and  who  are  consequently  not  familiar  with  the 
language  of  literature,  employ  almost  exclusively  in  their  conversation  the 
simple  and  expressive  Saxon  terms ;  while  persons  belonging  to  the  more 
favored  classes  of  society,  supply  the  place  of  many  of  these  terms  by 
others  derived  from  the  language  of  books.  The  old  words  thus  discarded, 
which  are  often  far  more  expressive  and  more  consonant  to  the  genius  of 
the  language  than  the  apparently  more  elegant  novelties  by  which  they  are 
supplanted,  are  from  that  time  considered  as  the  exclusive  property  of  the 
common  people,  and  receive  the  name  oi provincial,  colloquial,  or  vulgar. 

But  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  common  speech  often  enters  largely  into 
composition,  and  in  some  instances  constitutes  the  chief  excellence  of  a 
writer.  In  dramatic  composition  the  colloquial  language  predominates.  In 
Shakespeare  we  find  every  variety  of  diction  of  which  the  English  language 
is  susceptible,  from  the  loftiest  flights  of  the  statesman  and  philosopher  to 
the  familiar  language  of  the  lowest  .of  the  people.  In  Ben  Jonson,  Beau- 
mont and  Fletcher,  Shirley,  and  the  other  dramatic  authors,  we  find  the 
familiar  idiom  to  be  the  most  prevalent 

K  we  examine  the  literature  of  other  countries,  we  shall  find  that  the 
colloquial  tongue  has  been  employed  in  written  compositions  of  a  similar 
kind  and  with  equal  success.  In  addition  to  Aristophanes  and  Plautus 
among  the  ancients,  Cervantes  may  be  mentioned  as  an  example  in  Spain, 
and  the  writings  of  Rabelais  and  Moliere  in  France.  The  colloquial  dia- 
lect is  generally  more  ancient  than  the  literary  language ;  as  the  latter  is 
constantly  changing,  while  the  former  remains  nearly  stationary. 

If  any  person  will  take  the  trouble  to  examine  the  early  dictionaries  of 
the  English  language,  or  the  dictionaries  of  which  English  forms  a  part,  he 
will  be  surprised  at  the  large  number  of  words  which  have  become  so  com- 
pletely obsolete  as  to  be  undeserving  a  place  in  modern  compilations. 
Even  the  English  dictionary  of  Bailey,  which,  at  the  time  Dr.  Johnson  pub- 
lished his,  was  the  standard,  abounds  in  words  which  are  now  never  used  in 
composition.  This  class  of  words  was  employed  by  authors  from  Chaucer's 
time,  or  about  the  year  1400,  to  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
By  the  middle  of  that  century  they  had  ceased  to  be  used  in  books,  but 
were  preserved  in  dictionaries  for  a  century  longer.     The  great  mass  of 


INTRODUCTIOIT. 


XV 


them,  however,  are  found  in  one  or  more  of  the  numerous  provincial  dia- 
lects of  England  to  the  present  day. 

The  dialects  of  the  English  language  now  spoken  in  England  have  ex- 
isted from  a  very  early  period.  It  is  not  pretended  by  writers  on  the  sub- 
ject that  any  are  of  recent  origin.  "  In  early  times,"  says  Dr.  Bosworth, 
"  there  was  clearly  a  considerable  dialectic  variety  in  the  writings  of  men 
residing  in  different  provinces.  Tlie  differences  observable  in  the  language 
of  the  most  cultivated  classes  would  be  still  more  marked  and  apparent  in 
the  mass  of  population,  or  the  less  educated  community.  These,  from 
their  agricultural  pursuits,  had  little  communication  with  the  inhabitants  of 
other  provinces ;  and  having  few  opportunities  and  little  inducement  to 
leave  their  own  neigliborhood,  they  intermarried  among  each  other,  and, 
from  their  limited  acquaintance  and  circumscribed  views,  they  would  nat- 
urally be  much  attached  to  their  old  manners,  customs,  and  language.  The 
same  cause  operating  from  age  to  age  would  keep  united  the  greater  part 
of  the  population,  or  the  families  of  the  middle  stations  of  life ;  it  may, 
therefore,  be  well  expected  that  much  of  the  peculiarity  of  dialect  prevalent 
in  Anglo-Saxon  times,  is  preserved  even  to  the  present  day  in  the  provin- 
cial dialects  of  the  same  districts.  In  these  local  dialects,  then,  remnants  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  tongue  may  be  found  in  the  least  altered,  most  uncorrupt, 
and  therefore  its  purest  state."  * 

In  an  ethnological  point  of  view  the  English  dialects  afford  important 
materials  for  elucidating  that  portion  of  English  history  which  relates  to  the 
early  colonization  of  Great  Britain ;  for,  if  history  were  silent  on  the  sub- 
ject, a  philological  test  applied  to  the  dialects  of  the  country  would  show 
what  nations  contributed  to  its  colonization. 

The  Edinburgh  Keview  for  April,  1844,  in  an  article  on  the  Provincial- 
isms of  the  European  Languages,  gives  the  following  results  of  an  inquiry 
into  the  number  of  provincial  words  which  had  then  been  arrested  by  local 
glossaries : 

371 

589 

592 

1,568 

6,169 

3,750 

903 

3,500 


Shropshire, 

1,993 

Sussex, 

f  Devonshire  and  Cornwall,   . 

878 

Essex,     , 

}  Devonsliire  (North), 

1,146 

Wiltshire,     . 

CExmoor, 

370 

(  Hallamshire, 
(  Craven, 

Herefordshire,     . 

822 

Lancasliire,   . 

1,922 

North  County,   . 

Suffolk,  . 

2,400 

Cheshire, 

Norfolk, 

2,500 

Grose  and  Pegge,t 

Somersetshire,    . 

.        1,204 

30,687 


*  Preface  to  Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary,  p.  xxvi. 
t  Set  down  as  Metropolitan. 


XVI  INTRODUCTION. 

"  Admitting  that  several  of  the  foregoing  are  synonymous,  superfluous,  or 
common  to  each  county,  there  are  nevertheless  many  of  them  which,  al- 
though alike  orthographically,  are  vastly  dissimilar  in  signification.  Mak- 
ing these  allowances,  they  amount  to  a  little  more  than  20,000  ;  or,  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  English  counties  hitherto  illustrated,  to  the  average 
ratio  of  1478  to  a  county.  Calculating  the  twenty-six  unpublished  in  the 
same  ratio  (for  there  are  'supposed  to  be  as  many  words  collected  by  per- 
sons who  have  never  published  them),  they  will  furnish  36,428  additional 
provincialisms,  forming  in  the  aggregate  59,000  words  in  the  colloquial 
tongue  of  the  lower  classes,  which  can,  for  the  chief  part,  produce  proofs  of 
legitimate  origin." 

Since  the  above  was  written,  a  most  important  contribution  to  this  de- 
partment of  literature  has  been  made  in  the  publication  of  "  A  Dictionary  of 
Archaic  and  Provincial  Words,  Obsolete  Phrases,  Proverbs,  and  Ancient 
Customs,  from  the  fourteenth  century.  By  J.  0.  Halliwell.  2  vols.  Svo, 
London,  1847."  This  admirable  work  actually  contains  50,000  words,  a  great 
portion  of  which  are  illustrated  by  extracts  from  manuscripts.  It  will  be  found 
by  most  persons  to  amply  supply  the  place  of  the  numerous  separate  glos- 
saries for  studying  the  dialects  of  England,  while  it  affords  indispensable 
assistance  for  the  correct  understanding  of  the  early  writers.  A  still  later 
publication  of  the  same  description,  and  which  has  constantly  been  con- 
sulted with  advantage  in  preparing  the  second  edition  of  the  present 
work,  is  the  "  Dictionary  of  Obsolete  and  Provincial  English,  containing 
words  from  the  English  writers  previous  to  the  nineteenth  century,  which 
are  no  longer  in  use,  or  are  not  used  in  the  same  sense,  and  words  which 
are  now  used  only  in  the  provincial  dialects.  Compiled  by  Thomas  Wright, 
Esq.     2  vols.  8vo.   London,  1857." 

As  it  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  these  inquiries  to  discuss  the  lan- 
guages to  which  the  English  bears  a  relationship,  we  shall  pass  over  these, 
and  come  at  once  to  the  Anglo-Saxon.  This  forms  the  basis  of  the  English 
language,  and  is  to  be  considered  as  the  mother-tongue,  upon  which  many 
words  and  phrases  from  other  languages,  at  successive  periods,  during  a 
space  of  fourteen  centuries,  have  been  engrafted. 

The  Saxons  brought  their  language  into  Britain  in  the  year  449,  when 
the  invasion  under  Ilengist  took  place.  What  the  language  was  at  this 
period  it  is  impossible  to  show,  as  no  writings  of  the  time  have  come  do^vn 
to  us.  It  probably  approached  nearer  to  its  immediate  progenitor,  the 
Low  German  and  Moeso-Gothic,  than  the  form  it  assumed  several  centuries 
later,  when  we  first  find  written  documents.* 


*  It  is  true  that  the  celebrated  Anglo-Saxon  poem  of  Beowulf  is  considered  to  bo 
contemporary  with  Hcngist.  But  its  editor,  Mr.  Kemble,  states  that  the  poem  as  contained 


INTRODUCTION.  XVU 

The  large  number  of  invaders  who  followed  Hengist  compelled  the  an- 
cient inhabitants  to  retire ;  and  in  about  a  century  the  Avhole  country  was 
formed  into  a  Saxon  kingdom,  wherein  their  language  took  the  place  of  the 
Celtic.  This  language,  thus  introduced  and  so  firmly  established,  has  been 
called  pure  Saxoii  by  the  learned  Dr.  Hickes  in  his  "  Thesaurus  Veterum 
Linguarum  Septentrionalium." 

The  languages  of  the  Angles  and  Saxons  were  closely  allied  to  each  other 
In  fact,  from  a  comparison  of  the  earliest  specimens  that  have  come  down 
to  us,  it  is  evident  that  they  were  merely  dialects  of  the  same  tongue,  spoken 
by  people  living  contiguous  to  each  other.  The  other  Gothic  invaders,  or 
colonists  of  Britain,  who  have  left  traces  of  their  language,  are  the  Jutes  of 
Jutland  and  the  Friesians  of  Friesland. 

The  Danes  made  their  first  descent  on  the  English  coast  in  787,  and 
were  soon  repelled.  Successive  invasions  followed,  and  when  Charlemagne 
compelled  them  to  retreat  before  his  victorious  armies,  they  sought  a*  refuge 
in  Britain,  laying  waste  the  country  and  plundering  wherever  they  came. 
The  Saxons  always  got  rid  of  them  as  soon  as  possible,  either  by  force  of 
arms  or  contributions  of  money.  Yet  in  many  instances  they  established 
colonies,  and  after  230  years  of  warfare  they  succeeded  in  raising  a  Danish 
king  to  the  throne  of  England  in  the  year  1017.  His  reign,  however,  was 
short ;  for  in  twenty-four  years  the  Danish  dynasty  was  extinct,  and  a 
Saxon  king  again  succeeded. 

This  is  the  period  where  Dr.  Hickes  places  the  second  stage  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  language,  being  that  in  which  it  was  affected  by  the  Danish 
invasions,  receiving  new  words  or  dialectical  changes.  Mr.  Forby,  in  his 
remarks  on  the  dialect  of  East  AngUa,  says  that  no  part  of  England  was 
more  completely  overrun  or  longer  occupied  than  this ;  but  he  denies  that  a 
number  of  words  sufficiently  large  was  imported  to  give  a  new  color  and 
character  to  the  Saxon  tongue.* 

"  The  French  element  appeared  in  our  language  with  the  battle  of  Hast- 
ings (a.  d.  106G),  perhaps  in  a  slight  degree  during  the  reign  of  Edward 
the  Confessor."  f  It  is  the  dialect  spoken  in  the  northern  parts  of  France, 
and  denominated  Norman  French,  which  has  had  the  greatest  influence 
upon  the  English  language. 

Those  parts  of  Great  Britain  which  have  contributed  most  to  our  pro- 
vincialisms are  the  counties  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  and  the  Scottish  Bor- 
ders. It  was  chiefly  from  these  counties  that  New  England  was  colonized ; 
hence  their  peculiarities  of  language  are  most  numerous  in  the  New  Eng- 

in  the  Cottonian  MS.,  British  Museum,  is  not  so  old ;  and  there  occur  in  it  Christian 
aUusions  which  fix  this  text  at  least  at  a  period  subsequent  to  A.  r>.  597. 

*  Forby's  lutrod.  to  the  Vocab.  of  East  Anglia,  p.  31. 

t  Latham  on  the  English  Language,  p.  45.     1st  edit. 

B* 


XVm  INTRODUCTION. 

land  States.  The  provincialisms  used  in  the  districts  referred  to  have  been 
collected  and  published  in  Forby's  Vocabulary  of  East  Anglia,  2  vols.  1 2mo. 
London,  1830;  Moor's  Suffolk  Words  and  Phrases,  12nio.  London,  1823; 
Brockett's  Glossary  of  North  Country  Words,  with  their  etymology,  3d  edi- 
tion, 2  vols.  12mo.  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  1846 ;  and  Carr's  dialect  of  Cra- 
ven in  the  West  Kiding  of  York,  2  vols.  12mo.    2d  edition,  London,  1828. 


AMERICAN  DIALECTS. 

Dialects  originate  in  various  ways.  First,  by  the  proximity  of  nations 
speaking  different  languages,  in  which  case  many  words  and  phrases  are 
borrowed  from  one  into  the  other ;  witness  the  Scotch  and  Irish  dialects  of 
the  English.  Secondly,  by  migrations.  This  is  the  most  fruitful  and  per- 
manent source  of  dialects.  We  see  its  effects  in  the  language  of  England ; 
for  the  immigrations  of  various  nations  into  Great  Britain  from  the  Saxons 
do^vn  to  the  period  of  the  Norman  conquest  are  yet  distinctly  marked  in  the 
dialects  of  that  country. 

In  the  United  States  it  is  easy  to  point  out  causes,  which,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  generations,  will  materially  affect  the  English  language  in  the  par- 
ticular districts  of  country  where  those  influences  are  at  work.  Dialects  will 
•spring  up  as  marked  as  those  of  Great  Britain.  A  free  intercourse  may  in 
some  cases  check  the  permanency  of  these  dialects  ;  but  in  those  parts  of 
the  country  aside  from  the  great  thoroughfares,  where  a  dialect  has  once 
'become  firmly  established,  a  thousand  years  will  not  suffice  to  eradicate  it. 

The  State  of  New  York  was  originally  settled  by  the  Dutch.  The  num- 
ber of  their  colonists  was  never  large,  nor  did  they  extend  their  settlements 
beyond  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  and  lands  adjacent ;  yet  we  find  even  in 
this  thickly  settled  State,  after  a  lapse  of  two  hundred  years,  that  they  have 
lefl  evident  traces  on  our  spoken  language.  In  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
Albany  many  Dutch  words  have  become  incorporated  into  the  common 
speech.  In  some  of  the  inland  villages  of  Dutch  origin,  the  inhabitants  still 
use  the  language  of  their  fathers  ;  and  there  are  even  individuals  who  never 
spoke  any  other. 

The  words  so  adopted  by  us  embrace  geographical  names,  —  a  class  of 
words  which  the  first  colonists  of  a  country  or  the  primitive  inhabitants 
themselves  generally  leave  to  their  posterity  or  to  the  subsequent  occupants. 
Many  of  the  other  words  which  the  Dutch  have  left  us  are  terms  belonging 
to  the  kitchen.  These  have  been  preserved  and  handed  down  by  cooks 
and  domestic  servants,  until  from  constant  use  they  ai-e  become  familiar  to 


INTRODUCTION.  XIX 

all.  Among  these  terms  are  cookey,  cruller,  olyhoke,  spacJc  and  applejees, 
noodlejees,  rulUchies,  koolslaa,  pit. 

The  terms  for  various  playthings,  holidays,  etc.,  preserve  among  chil- 
dren their  original  Dutch  names ;  as  scup,  snore,  hoople,  peewee,  pile,  pinkster, 
paas.     Other  words  confined  to  children  are  pinky,  terawchy. 

Articles  of  wearing  apparel  in  some  instances  i-etain  their  Dutch  names ; 
as  harraclade,  clocktnutch. 

Besides  these  there  are  terms,  the  use  of  which  is  not  confined  to  the  dis- 
tricts originally  colonized  from  Holland,  but  has  been  extended  to  New 
England  and  several  of  the  Northern  States,  and  even  to  Canada ;  such  as 
stoop,  a  porch,  boss,  a  master-workman,  etc. 

If  a  few  Dutch  colonists  mingled  with  the  Engh'sh  have  been  able  to  en- 
graft so  many  words  on  our  language,  what  may  we  not  expect  from  the  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  Germans  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  ?  There  the 
German  language  will  doubtless  exist  for  centuries ;  for,  although  they  are 
situated  in  the  midst  of  an  English-speaking  population  far  more  numerous 
than  themselves,  and  although  the  government  and  laws  are  conducted 
through  the  English  language,  still  the  tendency  of  a  people  of  com- 
mon origin  to  cling  together,  —  the  publication  of  newspapers,  almanacs, 
and  books  in  German,  —  and  the  cultivation  to  some  extent  of  German 
literature,  will  tend  to  preserve  the  idiom  and  nationality  of  the  people.  It 
is  true  the  language  is  already  much  corrupted,  and  in  the  course  of  time 
it  must  give  way  to  the  English ;  but  it  will  leave  behind  it  an  almost  im- 
perishable dialect  as  a  memento  of  its  existence.  In  the  States  of  Ohio 
and  Texas,  where  there  are  large  settlements  of  Germans,  a  similar  result 
must  follow. 

In  the  State  of  Illinois  is  a  colony  of  Norwegians.  These  people  before 
coming  to  America  sent  out  an  agent,  who  selected  and  purchased  for  them 
a  large  tract  of  land  in  one  section  of  that  State.  They  were  accompanied 
by  their  clergyman  and  schoolmaster.  They  are  thus  kept  together,  and 
will  for  a  long  time  preserve  their  language  and  nationality.  But  it  must 
also  eventually  give  way,  after  engrafting  on  the  English  language  in  that 
vicinity  a  Norwegian  dialect. 

There  are  large  settlements  of  Welsh  emigrants  in  the  States  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  New  York.  In  the  latter,  in  Oneida  county,  one  may  travel 
for  miles  and  hear  nothing  but  the  Welsh  language.  These  people  have 
their  newspapers  and  magazines  in  their  native  tongue,  and  support  many 
churches  wherein  their  language  alone  is  preached.  Tlte  Welsh,  however, 
are  not  in  sufficient  numbers,  nor  are  they  sufficiently  isolated,  to  retain 
for  any  length  of  time  their  native  form  of  speech  ;  neither  can  they  pro- 
duce any  sensible  dialectical  change  in  qjir  language,  owing  to  the  great 
difference  between  it  and  their  own.  They  will,  however,  add  some  words 
to  it. 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

In  the  State  of  Louisiana,  which  was  colonized  by  the  French,  and  in 
Florida,  which  was  colonized  by  the  Spaniards,  there  ai'e  many  words  of 
foreign  origin,  scarcely  known  in  the  Northern  States.  The  geographical 
divisions,  the  names  of  rivers,  mountains,  bays  ;  the  peculiarities  of  soil  and 
climate  ;  all  that  relates  to  the  cultivation  of  the  earth,  the  names  of  fishes, 
birds,  fruits,  vegetables,  coins,  etc.,  etc.,  retain  to  a  great  extent  the  names 
given  them  by  the  first  possessors  of  the  country.  The  same  classes  of  words 
are  preserved  in  Lower  Canada,  where  they  were  originally  given  by  the 
French.  We  have  adopted  them  into  our  own  tongue,  where  tliey  will  for- 
ever remain  in  use.  Among  the  words  of  French  origin  are  bagasse,  ban- 
quette, cache,  bodette,  bayou,  saidt,  levee,  crevasse,  habitan,  portage,  voyageur^ 

The  Spanish  colonists  in  Florida,  and  our  intercourse  with  Mexico  and  the 
Spanish  main,  were  the  means  of  introducing  a  few  Spanish  words.  Since 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  California,  our  vocabulary  has 
received  numerous  additions  from  this  source.  These  consist  of  geograph- 
ical terms  ;  as,  arroyo,  acequia,  barranca,  canyon,  cienega,  cieneguita,faralo- 
nes,  loma,  mesa,  mesilla,  playa,  ojo,  sierra,  Jornada  ;  of  names  of  articles  of 
food,  as  tortilla,  frijoles,  atole,  pinole,  chile;  and  of  various  other  terms,  as, 
arriero,  adobe,  chaparal,  pistareen,  rancho,  ranchero,  lariat,  lasso,  fandango, 
stampede,  scrape,  vamos. 

The  Indian  terms  in  our  language,  as  might  be  supposed,  are  numerous. 
First,  as  to  geographical  names.  These  abound  in  every  State  in  the 
Union,  though  more  in  some  States  than  in  others.  In  New  England,  par- 
ticularly on  the  coast,  Indian  names  are  very  common.  Nearly  all  the 
rivers,  bays,  and  prominent  landmarks  bear  them,  as  Housatonic,  Connecti- 
cut, Quinnebaug,  Pawcatuch,  Merrimack,  Kennebec,  Penobscot,  Narragan- 
set,  Passamaquoddy,  etc.  In  other  parts  of  the  country,  too,  the  rivers 
retain  their  aboriginal  names,  as  the  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Ohio,  Susque- 
hanna, Roanoke,  Altaniaha,  Chattahoochie,  Alabama,  etc.,  etc.  And  the 
same  may  be  said  of  the  great  lakes  ;  as,  Ontario,  £rie,  Huron,  Michigan, 
as  well  as  the  lesser  ones  of  Seneca,  Cayuga,  Canandaigua,  Oneida,  Winni- 
peg, Winnebago ;  and  also  of  nearly  all  the  bays,  mountains,  and  numerous 
geographical  divisions  and  localities.  Many  of  the  aboriginal  names,  however, 
have  been  discarded  for  others  less  appropriate.  In  New  England  the  towns 
and  villages  were  chiefly  named  after  the  towns  in  England  from  which  the 
early  colonists  emigrated.  In  the  State  of  New  York  there  is  a  strange 
discrepancy  in  the  names  of  places.  Before  the  Revolution  the  people 
seemed  to  prefer  the  aboriginal  names  ;  not  only  the  rivei's,  lakes,  hills,  etc., 
but  many  of  the  towns,  received  them.  After  the  war,  the  names  of  dis- 
tinguished statesmen  and  soldiers  were  applied  to  the  new  counties  and 
towns.  Besides  geographical  ns^es,  the  Indian  languages  have  supplied 
us  with  1st,  Many  names  of  beasts  and  fishes,  as  caribou,  cayman,  chipmuk^ 


INTRODUCTION.  XXl 

moose,  ocelot,  opossum,  raccoon,  skunk,  manitee,  squeteague,  menhaden,  pau- 
haugen,  scuppaug,  quahaug.  2d,  Of  plants  ;  as,  persimmon,  chincapin, 
pecan,  tuckahoe,  maize,  MnnihinniTc,  tobacco ;  particularly  preparations  of 
them  for  food,  as  samp,  hominy,  succotash,  supawn  from  Indian  corn  ;  and 
from  the  cassava  plant,  mandioca  and  tapioca.  3d,  Names  of  articles 
known  to  and  used  by  the  Indians,  and  which  the  Europeans  did  not  possess  ; 
as,  canoe,  hammock,  moccasin,  wampum,  wigwam,  tomahawk,  pemmican  ; 
and  4th,  names  applied  by  Indians  to  themselves  in  their  various  relations  ; 
as,  inca,  cazique,  cockarouse,  mingo,  sachem,  sagamore,  squaw,  pappoos. 

The  greatest  perversions  of  the  English  language  arise  from  two  opposite 
causes.  One  of  them  is  the  introduction  of  vulgarisms  by  uneducated  peo- 
ple, who  not  having  the  command  of  proper  words  to  express  their  ideas, 
invent  others  for  the  purpose.  These  words  continue  among  this  class,  are 
transmitted  by  them  to  their  children,  and  thus  become  permanent  and 
provincial.  They  are  next  seized  upon  by  stump-speakers  at  political 
meetings,  because  they  are  popular  with  the  masses.  Next  we  hear 
them  on  the  floor  of  Congress  and  in  our  halls  of  legislation.  Quoted 
by  the  newspapers,  they  become  familiar  to  all,  and  take  their  place  in  the 
colloquial  language  of  the  whole  people.  Lexicographers  now  secure  them 
and  give  them  a  place  in  their  dictionaries;  and  thus  they  are  firmly  en- 
grafted on  our  language.  The  study  of  lexicography  will  show  that  this 
process  has  long  been  going  on  in  England,  and  doubtless  other  languages 
are  subject  to  similar  influences. 

But  the  greatest  injury  to  our  language  arises  from  the  perversion  of 
legitimate  words  and  the  invention  of  hybrid  and  other  inadmissible  expres- 
sions by  educated  men,  and  particularly  by  the  clergy.  This  class  is  the 
one,  above  all  others,  which  ought  to  be  the  conservators  rather  than  the 
perverters  of  language.  It  is  nevertheless  a  fact  which  cannot  be  denied, 
that  many  strange  and  barbarous  Avords  to  which  our  ears  are  gradually  be- 
coming familiar,  owe  to  them  their  origin  and  introduction ;  among  them 
may  be  mentioned  such  verbs  as  to  fellowship,  to  difficult,  Xo  eventuate,  to 
doxologize,  to  happify,  to  donate,  to  funeralize,  etc.,  etc.  \lnJ'.r7/irr, 

Political  writers  have  vAi\Ke,  and  are  constantly  making  large  additions 
to  our  stock  of  words  and  phrases.  Alex.  Hamilton's  writings  abound  in 
newly  coined  expressions ;  many  of  which  have  been  adopted  by  Dr.  Web- 
ster, and  have  a  place  in  his  dictionary.  But  few,  however,  have  come 
into  general  use,  as  his  writings  have  not  been  widely  diffused,  and  there  is 
nothing  to  recommend  them  for  adoption  by  scholars.  Mr.  N.  P.  Willis,. 
also,  has  the  reputation  of  inventing  many  new  words,  some  of  which, 
though  not  yet  embodied  in  our  dictionaries,  are  much  used  in  familiar  lan- 
guage.    Judge  Story  has  contributed  his  share  of  new  words ;  but  as  they 


XXii  INTRODUCTION. 

are  confined  to  legal  treatises  and  works  on  the  Constitution,  they  can  never 
seriously  affect  the  language. 

Writers  of  political  articles  in  the  newspapers,  stump-orators,  and  the 
members  of  legislative  bodies,  have  added  much  to  the  English  vocabulary. 
This  class  of  words,  though  not  remarkable  for  their  elegance,  are  often  highly 
expressive,  and  become  more  widely  known  than  other  classes.  In  many  in- 
stances, however,  their  existence  is  but  short.  They  often  spring  up  with 
a  party ;  and  as  the  parties  become  extinct,  or  give  place  to  new  ones,  the 
terms  which  express  their  peculiar  ideas  or  doctrines  likewise  fall  out  of 
use.  In  this  class  may  be  included  such  terms  as  Old  Hunker,  Buchtail, 
Federalist,  Barnburner,  Loco-foco,  Young  Democracy,  Democratic  Republi- 
can, Know-nothing,  Native  American,  Nullijier,  Nidlijication,  Coon,  Coon- 
ery,  Fire-eater,  Black  Bepublican,  Silver-gray,  Wire-puller,  etc. 

There  are  words,  however,  in  this  class,  which,  having  grown  out  of  our 
peculiar  institutions,  are  of  a  permanent  nature.  The  origin  of  some  of 
these  is  involved  in  obscurity,  while  that  of  others  is  well  known.  Some- 
times a  little  incident  trivial  in  itself  has  brought  into  existence  words 
which  are  extremely  expressive,  and  which  will  remain  as  long  as  our  insti- 
tutions exist.  In  this  class  we  find  caucus,  mass-meeting,  buncombe  or 
bunkum,  to  lobby,  mileage,  gubernatorial,  senatorial,  squatter  sovereignty, 
stamping  ground,  stump,  etc. 

The  peculiar  physical  features  of  the  country  —  its  animals,  productions, 
aborigines,  forest-life,  etc.  —  have  been  a  most  fruitful  source,  from  which 
have  sprung  perhaps  the  largest  number  of  new  words,  as  necessary  and  useful 
to  ourselves  as  any  derived  from  our  Saxon  ancestors.  These  terms  are  not 
used  in  England,  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  they  are  not  Avanted. 
Although  I  cannot  agree  with  Dr.  Webster,  that  "  we  rarely  find  a  new 
word  introduced  into  a  language  which  is  entirely  useless,"  —  for  there  are 
unquestionably  thousands  of  words  encumbering  our  dictionaries  which 
might  well  be  dispensed  with  ;  yet  there  is  no  doubt  that,  in  most  instances, 
"  the  use  of  new  terms  is  dictated  by  necessity  or  utility ;  sometimes  to 
express  shades  of  difference  in  signification,  for  which  the  language  did 
not  supply  a  suitable  term;  sometimes  to  express  a  combination  of 
ideas  by  a  single  word,  which  otherwise  would  require  a  circumlocu- 
tion. These  benefits,  which  are  often  perceived,  as  it  were,  instinc- 
tively by  a  nation,  recommend  such  words  to  common  use,  till  the  cavils 
of  critics  are  silenced  by  the  weight  of  authority."  —  Letter  to  J.  Picker- 
ing, p.  7. 

Were  we  to  classify  the  periods  when  names  were  applied  to  places  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  for  example,  we  would  call  that  in  which  the  In- 
dian names  were  applied,  the  aboriginal  period.     This  is  as  far  back  as  it 


INTRODUCTION.  XxiU 

would  be  safe  for  ordinary  mortals  to  go,  leaving  the  ^^antediluvian"  period 
to  the  second  sight  of  such  seers  as  Mr.  Rafinesque.*         ^ 

The  Indian  names  seem  to  have  prevailed  till  the  Revolution.  Then 
came  a  burst  of  patriotism  among  the  settlers,  many  of  whom  doubtless  had 
served  in  the  war,  and  every  new  place  was  christened  with  the  names  of 
the  warriors  and  statesmen  of  the  day.  Thus  arose  Washington  county, 
Washington  village,  and  Washi7igton  holloio  ;  Jefferson  county,  village,  lake, 
etc.  The  State  of  New  York  has  thus  perpetuated,  in  her  towns  and  vil- 
lages, the  names  of  Adams,  Jay,  Lafayette,  Hamilton,  Madison,  Pinckney, 
Putnain,  Pulaski,  Schuyler,  De  Kalh,  Steuben,  Sullivan,  Gates,  Wayne,  etc. 
This  may  well  be  styled  the  patriotic  period.  The  names  of  statesmen  and 
generals,  however,  did  not  suffice  for  the  patriotism  of  our  early  pioneers,  for 
we  find  interspersed  among  them  the  names  of  Freedom,  Freetown,  Freeport, 
Independence,  Liberty,  Victory,  Hopewell,  Harmony,  Concord,  Union,  etc. 

Next  comes  the  classical  period ;  for  by  what  other  term  could  we  desig- 
nate a  period  when  towns  were  christened  by  the  names  of  such  men  as  Ho- 
mer, Virgil,  Solon,  Ovid,  Cato,  Euclid,  Brutus,  Pompey,  TuUy^  Cicero,  Aiire- 
lius,  Scipio,  Ulysses,  Seneca,  Hannibal,  Hector,  Romidus,  Lysander,  Manlius, 
Camillus,  and  Marcellus  ;  or  of  such  places  as  Athens,  Sparta,  Marathon, 
Troy,  Corinth,  Pharsalia,  Palmyra,  Utica,  Smyrna,  Rome,  and  Carthage. 

Testimony  to  the  piety  (to  say  nothing  of  the  good  taste)  of  our  fore- 
fathers is  also  afforded  by  the  occurrence  of  such  names  as  Eden,  Babylon, 
Sodom,  Jerusalem,  Jericho,  Hebron,  Goshen,  Bethany,  Bethpage,  Bethlehem, 
Sharon,  etc.  There  are  towns  named  after  nearly  every  country  in  Europe, 
as  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark  (with  a  Copenhagen  adjoining),  Russia, 
Greece,  Italy,  Sardinia,  Holland,  Wales,  as  well  as  after  their  principal 
cities.  There  is  a  town  of  Mexico,  Chili,  Peru,  Delhi,  Canton,  Cairo,  Egypt, 
China,  Cuba.  Distinguished  men  in  English  history,  as  Milton,  Addison, 
Clarendon,  Dryden,  Scott,  Byron,  Chesterfield,  Hume,  Marlborough,  Junius, 
have  towns  christened  with  their  names.  But  little  fondness  is  exhibited 
for  dramatic  authors,  as  the  name  of  the  greatest  of  them  all  has  been  for- 
gotten :  not  even  a  pond,  a  hollow,  or  a  swamp  has  been  honored  with  the 
name  of  Shakspeare.  If  we  were  to  classify  all  the  names  of  places  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  we  should  be  puzzled  to  find  a  place  for  the  names  of 
Painted  Post,  Oxbow,  Hal/moon,  Owl  Pond,  Oyster  Bay,  Mud  Creek,  Cow 
Neck,  Mosquito  Cove,  Oblong,  Pitcher,  Red  Jacket,  Rough  and  Ready,  Suc- 
cess, and  the  like.  The  name  of  Penn  Tan  is  said  to  have  been  manufactured 
by  the  first  settlers,  part  of  whom  were  from  Pennsylvania  and  the  rest 
from  New  England,  by  taking  the  first  syllable  from  "  Pennsylvania,"  and 
the  last  from  "  Yankee." 

*  See  Introduction  to  History  of  Kentucky. 


XXIV  INTRODUCTION. 

Strangely  formed  factitious  words  are  much  affected  at  the  West,  ahskize, 
absquatulate,  catawajnpously,  exjlunctify,  obscute,  slantendicular,  etc.  etc. ; 
and  in  the  South  such  onomatopees  as  keslosh,  kesouse,  keswoUop,  kewhol' 
lux,  etc. 

The  battle  fields  of  the  Mexican  war  are  commemorated  in  eighteen 
Buena  Vistas,  sixteen  Montereys,  nine  Palo  Altos,  and  two  Resacas.  And 
the  names  of  its  heroes  have  given  bii'th  to  a  host  of  Taylors  and  Taylor- 
villes.  Worths  and  Worthvilles,  Pierces  and  Piercevilles,  besides  Piercetown, 
Pierceland,  and  Pierce  Point ;  also  several  Polks  and  PoUcvilles,  together 
with  Polktown,  Polk  City,  Polk  Patch,  Polk  Precinct,  and  Polk  Run  ;  and 
two  additional  Quitmans.  In  California  many  places  have  been  absurdly 
named  from  some  trifling  incident  connected  with  the  first  settlement ;  such 
as  Hangtown,  Fiddletown,  Shirt-Tail  Canyon,  Whiskey  Gulch,  Port  Wine 
Diggings,  Humbug  Flat,  Murderer's  Bar,  Flapjack  Canyon,  Yankee  JivrHs, 
Jackass  Gulch,  Red  Dog,  Traveller's  Rest,  Fair  Play,  with  many  others 
equally  ridiculous. 

In  consequence  of  the  variety  of  origin  of  the  names  of  States  and  towns, 
the  formation  of  nouns  from  them  to  denote  the  native  or  citizen  of  such 
State  or  town  is  sometimes  difficult  and  even  impossible.  Thus  New  Yorker, 
Vermonter,  Rhode  Islander,  will  do  well  enough ;  and  so  will  Virginian, 
Georgian,  Philadelphian,  Bostonian,  Mobilian  ;  but  Buffalonian,  lUinoian, 
Ohioan,  are  hardly  admissible  ;  while  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and  Ar- 
kansas refuse  to  yield  to  the  process  at  all. 

The  class  of  new  words  and  new  meanings  of  old  weirds  which  owe  their 
origin  to  circumstances  or  productions  peculiar  to  the  United  States,  such 
as  ark,  hackicoods,  backwoodsmen,  breadstuffs,  barrens,  blaze,  bottoms,  broad- 
horn,  buffalo-robe,  cane-brake,  cypress-hrake,  clearing,  corn  broom,  corn- 
shucking,  deadening,  diggings,  dug-out,  flat-boat,  hog-wallow,  husking,  inter- 
val, location,  pine-barrens,  prairie,  preemption,  reservation,  salt  lick,  savan- 
nah, snag,  sawyer,  squatter,  etc.,  are  necessary  additions  to  the  language. 

The  metaphorical  and  other  odd  expressions  used  first  at  the  West,  and 
afterwards  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  often  originate  in  some  curious 
anecdote  or  event,  which  is  transmitted  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  soon 
made  the  property  of  all.  Political  writers  and  stump  speakers  perform  a 
prominent  part  in  the  invention  and  diffusion  of  these  phrases.  Among 
these  may  be  mentioned,  to  cave  in,  to  acknowledge  the  corn,  to  flash  in  the 
pan,  to  bark  up  the  wrong  tree,  to  wake  up  the  wrong  passenger,  to  pull  up 
stakes,  to  be  a  caution,  to  fizzle  out,  to  flat  out,  to  fix  his  flint,  to  be  among 
the  missing,  to  give  him  Jessy,  to  see  the  elephant,  to  fly  around,  to  spread 
oneself,  to  tucker  out,  to  use  up,  to  toalk  into,  to  cotton,  to  hifer,  to  chisel, 
to  slope,  to  lobby,  to  gerrymander,  to  splurge,  etc.  etc. 

Our  people,  particularly  those  who  belong  to  the  West  and  South,  are 


INTRODUCTION.  XXT 

fond  of  using  intensive  and  extravagant  epithets,  both,  as  adjectives  and 
adverbs,  as  awful,  powerful,  monstrous,  dreadful,  mighty,  almighty,  all-fired^ 
etc. ;  while  euphemistic  oaths  are  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Yankee 
dialect. 

The  words  hanhaMe,  hoatahle,  dutiable,  mailable,  mileage,  are  well  formed 
and  useful  terms,  which  have  been  generally  adopted  by  those  who  have  oc- 
casion to  make  use  of  them.  But  the  words  dubersome,  disremember,  dece- 
dent, docity,  and  the  like,  can  hardly  be  called  necessary  additions  to  our 
language. 

There  is  a  diversity  in  the  pronunciation  of  certain  words  in  different 
parts  of  the  United  States,  which  is  so  perceptible  that  a  native  of  these 
particular  districts  may  be  at  once  recognized  by  a  person  who  is  observant 
in  these  matters.  Residents  of  the  city  of  New  York  are  perhaps  less 
marked  in  their  pronunciation  and  use  of  words  than  the  residents  of  any 
other  city  or  State,  the  reason  of  which  is  obvious.  The  population  is  so 
fluctuating,  so  many  people  from  every  part  of  the  country,  as  well  as  from 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  are  congregated  there,  who  are  in  daily  con- 
tact with  each  other,  that  there  is  less  chance  for  any  idiom  or  peculiarity  of 
speech  to  grow  up.  Nevertheless,  grammatical  inaccuracies  are  far  from 
uncommon  in  the  speech  of  the  wealthier  classes,  and  slang  is  cultivated  to 
an  increasing  extent  by  the  "  rowdy  "  portion  of  the  population. 

The  large  number  of  educated  men  in  New  England,  her  admirable 
schools  and  higher  institutions  of  education,  have  had  a  powerful  influence 
in  moulding  the  language  of  her  people.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  fact,  in 
Boston  and  other  towns  in  Massachusetts,  there  exist  some  glaring  errors  in 
the  vulgar  speech.  There  are  peculiarities  also  to  be  observed  in  the  lite- 
rary language  of  the  Bostonians.  The  great  extent  to  which  the  scholars 
of  New  England  have  can-ied  the  study  of  the  German  language  and  lit- 
erature for  some  years  back,  added  to  a  very  general  neglect  of  the  old 
masterpieces  of  English  composition,  have  had  the  effect  of  giving  to 
the  writings  of  many  of  them  an  artificial,  unidiomatic  character,  which 
has  an  inexpressibly  unpleasant  effect  to  those  who  are  not  habituated 
to  it. 

The  agricultural  population  who  live  in  the  interior  of  New  England 
have  a  strongly  marked  provincial  dialect,  by  which  they  may  be  distin- 
guished from  the  people  of  every  other  part  of  the  Union.  The  chief  pecu' 
liarity  is  a  drawling  pronunciation,  sometimes  accompanied  by  a  speaking 
through  the  nose,  as  eend  for  end,  dawg  for  dog,  Gawd  for  God,  etc.  Be- 
fore the  sounds  ow  and  oo,  they  often  insert  a  short  i,  which  we  will  repre- 
sent by  the  letter  y ;  as  kyow  for  cow,  vyow  for  vow,  tyoo  for  too,  dyoo  for 
do,  etc.  etc.  The  numerous  words  employed  in  New  England  which 
are  not  heard  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  are  mostly  genuine  old  words 

c 


XXVI 


INTRODUCTION. 


still  provincial  in  the  North  of  England ;  very  few  are  of  indigenous 
origin. 

Among  some  of  the  Western  people  there  are  strange  ideas  regarding  the 
use  of  certain  words,  which  has  led  the  mock-modest  to  reject  them  and 
substitute  others.  Thus,  to  speak  of  the  names  of  animals  only,  the  essen- 
tially English  word  hull  is  refined  beyond  the  mountains,  and  perhaps  else- 
where, into  cow-creature,  male-cow,  and  even  gentleman-cow  !  A  friend 
who  resided  many  years  in  the  West  has  told  me  of  an  incident  where  a 
gray-headed  man  of  sixty  doffed  his  hat  reverently  and  apologized  to  a 
clergyman  for  having  used  inadvertently  in  his  hearing  the  plain  Saxon 
term.  Male  sheep,  male  hog,  etc.,  are  of  a  piece  with  the  preceding,  to  which 
we  may  add  rooster,  he  biddy,  game  chicken,  etc. 

The  chief  peculiarity  in  the  pronunciation  of  the  Southern  and  Western 
people  is  the  giving  of  a  broader  sound  than  is  proper  to  certain  vowels  ; 
as  whar  for  where,  thar  for  there,  bar  for  bear.  Ear  and  here  are  both  pro- 
nounced like  year ;  house,  about,  etc.,  have  a  pronunciation  approaching  to 
hoose,  aboot,  etc. ;  and  the  final  r  is  omitted,  as,  you,  do,  for  your,  door,  etc. 

In  the  following  table  of  words  incorrectly  pronounced,  such  as  belong 
to  New  England  are  designated  by  the  letters  N.  E. ;  those  exclusively 
Western,  by  the  letter  W. ;  the  Southern  words,  by  S. ;  the  rest  are  com- 
mon to  various  parts  of  the  Union.  In  this  attempt  at  classification 
there  are  doubtless  errors  and  imperfections ;  for  an  emigrant  from  Ver- 
mont to  Illinois  would  introduce  the  provincialisms  of  his  native  district 
into  his  new  residence.  Many  of  these  inaccuracies  are  also  heard  in  Eng- 
land. 


actilly 
aim 

for 

•  actually, 
earn. 

caze 
cheer 

for  because, 
"  chair, 

airy 

allers 

arethmetic 

area, 

always,  S.  W. 
arithmetic, 

chimbly 

chist 

clar 

chimney, 
chest,  N.  E. 
clear,  W. 

arrant 

errand. 

closte 

close, 

arter 

after. 

considable 

considerable. 

ary 
attackted 

e'er  a, 
attack'd. 

cotch'd 
critter 

caught,  W. 
creature, 

anywheres 
bacheldcr 

anywhere, 
bachelor, 

cunnle 
curous 

colonel, 
curious. 

bar 

becase 

bellowses 

bear,  W. 
because, 
bellows, 

cupalo 
curchy 
cuss 

cupola, 
curtesy, 
curse, 

ben 

been,  N.  E. 

dar 

dare,  W. 

bile 
bimeby 

bust 

boil, 

by  and  by, 

burst, 

darter 

deef 

dew 

daughter, 
deaf, 
do,  N.  E. 

caired 

carried,  N.  E. 

deestrict 

district,  N.  E, 

INTRODUCTIOIf. 


XXVll 


desput 

foi 

•  desperate,  N.  E. 

mash 

for  marsh. 

dooz 

" 

does,  N.  E. 

million 

melon, 

drap 

« 

drop,  S. 

mischievious 

mischievous, 

dreffle 

« 

dreadful,  N.  E. 

mountanious 

mountainous, 

dribble 

It 

driblet. 

naaink 

nothing,  L.  I. 

drownded 

It 

drown'd, 

nary 

ne'er  a. 

dmv 

" 

drove. 

nigger 

negro, 

dubous 

It 

dubious. 

offen 

often. 

eend 

« 

end, 

ole 

old. 

everywheres 

" 

everywhere, 

only 

only,  S. 

forrerd 

" 

forward,  N.  E. 

pint 

point. 

fast 

« 

first. 

pooty 

pretty. 

gal 

« 

girl. 

punkin 

pumpkin. 

gin 

(( 

given. 

pus 

purse,  N.  E. 

gineral 

« 

general. 

racket 

rocket. 

git 

(( 

get. 

rale 

real. 

go\vnd 

« 

gown, 

rayther 

rather. 

grievious 

(( 

grievous. 

rench 

rinse. 

gwine 

« 

going,  S. 

rheumatiz 

rheimiatism. 

bar 

" 

hau-,  W. 

ruff 

roof,  N.  E. 

hath 

11 

hearth,  S. 

sarce 

sauce. 

hankecher 

II 

handkerchief. 

sarcer 

saucer, 

hender 

It 

hinder. 

sarve 

serve. 

hist 

It 

hoist. 

sartin 

certain,  N.  E. 

holt 

ti 

hold. 

sass 

sauce,  N.  E. 

huff 

<( 

hoof. 

sassy 

saucy. 

hull 

(( 

whole,  N.  E. 

scass 

scarce,  W. 

hum 

It 

home,  N.  E. 

schollard 

scholar,  S.  W. 

humbly 

" 

homely,  N.  E. 

sen 

since, 

idea 

(( 

idea,  S. 

shet 

shut,  S. 

ile 

It 

oil. 

shuk 

shook,  W. 

injine 

" 

engine. 

sich 

such. 

innards 

It 

inwards. 

skeart 

scared,  S.  W. 

inter 

It 

into. 

sorter 

sort  of. 

innemy 

II 

enemy. 

smaart 

smart,  S. 

janders 

II 

jaundice, 

spettacle 

spectacle. 

jidge 

" 

judge,  N.  E. 

spile 

spoil, 

jest 

II 

just. 

spose 

suppose. 

jine 

<( 

join. 

squinch 

quench, 

jiste 

" 

joist. 

Stan 

stand. 

kefcr 

« 

care. 

star 

stair,  W. 

ketch 

" 

catch. 

steeple 

staple,  W. 

kin 

" 

can. 

stiddy 

steady. 

kittle 

(( 

kettle. 

stun 

stone,  N.  E. 

kiver 

(( 

cover, 

streech 

stretch,  W. 

lam 

It 

leara. 

stupenduous 

stupendous. 

lamin 

" 

learning, 

sathin 

something,  N.  E. 

lawth 

It 

loath. 

tech 

touch. 

leetle 

It 

little, 

tend 

attend. 

lieves 

It 

lief. 

teU'd 

told,  N.  E. 

XXVlll 

INTRODUCTION. 

tew 

for  to,  N.  E. 

varmint 

for  vermin,  W. 

thar 

"  there,  W. 

wal 

"  well,  N.  E. 

tole 

"  told. 

■whar 

"  where,  W. 

tossel 

"  tassel, 

wtlnt 

"  wont,  N.  E 

tuck 

"  took. 

wtinst 

"   once,  W. 

torectly 

"  directly,  S. 

wtts 

"  worse. 

tremcnduous 

"  tremendous, 

jailer 

"  yellow. 

twiste 

"  twice. 

year 

"  ear,  S. 

umberell 

"  umbrella. 

yere 

"  here,  S. 

valeation 

"  valuation, 

yourn 

"   yours. 

Americanisms  exhibit  themselves,  not  in  the  use  of  peculiar  words  and 
pronunciations  alone,  but  also  in  some  points  of  grammar.  Thus,  to  men- 
tion a  few : 

The  termination  -ity  for  abstract  nouns  is  preferred  in  many  cases  to  the 
English  -ness  ;  so  that  we  have,  for  instance,  such  words  as  accountaUlity, 
instead  of  accou7itahletiess  ;  obtusity,  for  obtuseness,  etc.  Of  a  like  nature 
are  rendition,  for  rendering  ;  reservation,  for  reserve. 

The  terminations  -er  and  -est,  which  indicate  the  degrees  of  comparison 
of  adjectives,  are  often  discarded  for  the  adverbs  more  and  most,  even  be- 
fore monosyllables,  contrary  to  good  English  usage.  And  the  possessive 
relation  is  often  denoted  by  the  preposition  of,  where  the  termination  -'s 
would  be  neater  and  more  idiomatic. 

The  influence  of  the  French  language  seems  to  be  visible,  not  only  in  the 
pi'eceding  instances,  but  also  in  the  use  of  the  definite  article  before  the 
names  of  diseases ;  as,  the  gout,  the  consumption,  the  headache,  the  erysipe- 
las, etc. 

It  may  be  owing  to  the  influence  of  the  German  language,  in  which  the 
adverbs  are  nothing  but  apocopated  adjectives,  that  the  adjectival  ending  is 
so  often  omitted  by  vulgar  speakers ;  as,  "  I  have  got  wet  bad  ;  "  "  See  that 
you  do  it  good;  "  "  He  '11  take  cold  sure." 

On  the  other  hand  it  seems  owing  to  the  teachings  of  some  priggish 
pedagogue,  who  had  learned  that  "  adverbs  qualify  verbs,"  and  knew  no- 
thing beyond  it,  that  adverbs  are  now  often  employed  where  idiomatic  usage 
requires  an  adjective ;  as,  "  I  feel  very  badly ; "  "  you  look  charmingly^* 
etc.  So  that  we  may  expect  soon  to  hear,  "  She  seems  ignorantly  ;  "  "  He 
became  quite  crazily,"  etc. ;  and  to  be  unable  any  longer  to  make  the  distinc- 
tion between  "  He  feels  warmly,"  and  "  he  feels  warm."  The  ladies  seem 
more  especially  to  affect  this  form  of  speech,  which  is  more  common  at 
the  South  than  at  the  North ;  whence  it  is  likely  that  it  originated  in  a 
Southern  boarding-school.  The  persons  who  use  it  are  not  aware  that  it  is 
really  the  person  or  thing  which  is  qualified  in  these  cases,  and  not  the  action 
or  state  of  being. 

Among  the  American  peculiarities  of  style  one  of  the  most  remarkable  is 


INTRODUCTION.  XXIX 

a  tendency  to  exaggeration.  "  The  use  of  extravagant  terms,"  says  Dr. 
Lieber,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  me  on  the  subject,  "  is  very  common.  These 
are  often  used  by  deficiently  educated  persons  who  edit  newspapers,  and 
more  frequently  by  the  same  class  of  people  when  speaking  in  public.  In 
the  South  and  West  this  custom  prevails  to  a  greater  extent  than  at  the 
North.  '  This  is  the  finest  cow  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina,'  observes  one. 
'  The  handsomest  woman  south  of  the  Potomac,'  says  another.  And  a  man 
who  kept  a  country  school  with  ten  small  scholars  was  said  to  be  making 
'  bushels  of  money '  by  it." 

This  sort  of  exaggeration  frequently  assumes  the  form  of  what  in  Eng- 
land is  very  appropriately  termed  "  fine  writing,"  but  which  with  us  is  bet- 
ter known  as  "  highfaluten."  Thus  a  Western  critic,  speaking  of  the  acting 
of  a  Miss  Logan,  says  the  Avay  in  which  she  chanted  the  Marseillaise  was 
"  ten'ible  in  its  intensity,"  and  that  the  impression  made  "  must  create  for 
her  a  name  that  will  never  die."  This,  however,  "  does  not  begin  "  with 
Miss  Wyatt,  whose  performances  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  are  thus  described 
in  a  criticism  in  one  of  the  papers  of  that  city : 

"  Illumined  by  the  lyric  muse,  she  is  magnificent.  All  nerve,  all  palpita- 
tion, her  rounded  form  is  the  fittest  setting  for  her  diamond  soul !  She  has 
grace  which  is  more  than  beauty,  and  distinction  which  adorns  still  more 
than  grace.  She  appears  the  incarnation  of  genius  !  —  it  struggles  within 
her !  —  inspiration  quivers  down  her  snov-white  arms,  and  trembles  on  her 
fingers'  ends,  —  passion  wrestles  in  her  quivering  frame,  and  shudders  through 
her  limbs.  Her  soul  flickers  in  every  accent,  and  looms  up  in  every  panto- 
mime, while  serene  smiles  play  about  her  mouth.  Her  drapery  follows  her 
gestures,  —  her  gestures  her  passions.  Every  attitude  is  a  model,  every  pose 
is  a  classic  statue." 

"  The  very  opposite,"  says  Dr.  Lieber,  "  is  the  case  at  present  in  Eng- 
land. There  has  been  no  period  and  no  country  in  which  perspicuity,  sim- 
plicity, and  manliness  of  style  are  so  general  as  at  present  in  English  Re- 
views ;  even  newspapers,  e.  g.  the  London  Spectator,  are  models  of  these 
attributes  of  a  good  style.  Monkton  Milnes,  M.  P.,  told  me  he  had  not  the 
least  doubt  but  that  the  House  of  Commons  of  the  present  day  would  not 
stand  the  eloquence  of  Fox,  Sheridan,  or  Burke.  I  asked,  '  What  would 
they  do  ? '  '  The  members  would  instantly  leave  their  seats,'  was  the 
reply.  Mr.  Milnes  also  spoke  of  several  American  writers  whose  style 
was  correct;  still,  he  could  always  detect  some  florid  expression  char- 
acteristic of  their  people."   ^ 

Before  closing  these  observations  on  American  provincialisms,  I  should 
do  injustice  to  previous  writers  on  the  same  subject,  not  to  speak  of  their 
works.  The  earliest  of  these,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  is  that  of 
Dr.  Witherspoon.     In  a  series  of  essays  entitled  "  The  Druid,"  which  ap- 


XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

peared  originally  in  a  periodical  publication  in  1761,  he  devotes  numbers 
5,  6,  and  7  of  these  essays,  about  twenty  pages  in  all,  to  Americanisms,  per- 
versions of  language  in  the  United  States,  cant  phrases,  etc.  They  were 
afterwards  published  in  his  collected  works,  in  4  vols.  8vo.,  Philadelphia, 
1801,  and  may  be  found  in  the  fourth  volume. 

The  most  important  work  of  the  kind  is  that  of  the  late  Hon.  John  Pick- 
ering. He  began  with  an  article  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  the  American  Aca- 
demy of  Arts  and  Sciences,"  Boston.  This  was  soon  after  enlarged  and 
published  in  a  separated  volume  entitled  "  A  Vocabulary,  or  Collection  of 
Words  and  Phrases  which  have  been  supposed^to  be  peculiar  to  the  United 
States  of  America.  To  which  is  prefixed  an  Essay  on  the  present  state  of 
the  English  Language  in  the  United  States."  Boston:  1816.  pp.  206. 
(Containing  about  520  words.)  This  valuable  and  interesting  work  re- 
ceived much  attention,  and  in  the  following  year  appeared  a  pamphlet,  en- 
titled "  A  Letter  to  the  Hon.  John  Pickering,  on  the  Subject  of  his  Vocabu- 
lary, or  Collection  of  Words  and  Phrases  supposed  to  be  pecidiar  to  the 
United  States."     By  Noah  "Webster.     8vo.    Boston  :  1817.  pp.  69. 

In  the  Transactions  of  the  Albany  Institute,  1830,  Vol.  I.,  is  an  article  en- 
titled "  Notes  on  Mr.  Pickering's  Vocabulary,  etc.,  with  Preliminary  Obser- 
vations." By  T.  Romeyu  Beck.  In  Mr.  Sherwood's  "  Gazetteer  of  Geor- 
gia" is  a  glossary  of  words  provincial  in  the  Southern  States.  The  latest 
work  on  provincialisms,  but  chiefly  of  errors  in  grammar,  is  "  A  Grammat- 
ical Corrector,  or  Vocabulary  of  the  Common  Errors  of  Speech  ;  alphabeti- 
cally arranged,  corrected,  and  explained  for  the  Use  of  Schools  and  Private 
Individuals."     By  Seth  T.  Hurd.    12mo.   Philadelphia:  1847.* 

Since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  there  have  been  pub- 
lished two  additions  of  a  work  entitled  "  A  Collection  of  College  Works  and 
Customs."  By  B.  H.  Hall.  12mo.  Cambridge.  The  last  edition  in  1856. 
This  is  a  very  complete  work  in  its  way,  and  contains  many  Americanisms 
which  originated  at  Colleges.     The  illustrations  are  excellent. 

As  the  charge  has  been  frequently  made  against  us  by  English  critics  of 
perverting  our  vernacular  tongue,  and  of  adding  useless  words  to  it,  it  will 
not  be  out  of  place  to  state  here  that,  in  the  belief  of  the  author,  the  English 

*  In  preparing  this  work,  I  have  examined  all  the  English  provincial  glossaries,  and  the 
principal  English  dictionaries ;  which  it  was  necessary  to  do  in  order  to  know  what  words 
and  plu-ases  were  still  provincial  in  England.  Many  of  the  facts  in  that  portion  of  the  In- 
troduction which  treats  of  English  dialects,  have  be|^  drawn  from  similar  essays  ap- 
pended to  the  several  glossaries.  But  I  am  chiefly  indebted  to  the  enlarged  Preface  to 
Dr.  Bosworth's  Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary,  which  presents  the  best  historical  analysis  ex- 
tant of  the  English  language ;  and  to  the  admirable  and  later  work  of  Professor  Latham, 
"The  English  Language,"  London,  1841,  which  is  unquestionably  the  most  valuable 
work  on  EngUsh  philology  and  grammar  which  has  yet  appeared. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXI 

language  is  in  no  part  of  the  world  spoken  in  greater  purity  by  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  than  in  the  United  States.  In  making  this  assertion  he 
does  not  depend  wholly  on  his  own  observation ;  it  has  repeatedly  been 
made  by  intelligent  Englishmen  who  have  travelled  in  the  United  States, 
and  had  an  opportunity  of  judging.  On  this  subject,  the  author  of  an  Eng- 
lish work,  entitled  the  "  Backwoods  of  Canada,"  has  the  following  judicious 
remarks : 

"  With  the  exception  of  some  few  remarkable  expressions,  and  an  at- 
tempt at  introducing  fine  words,  the  lower  order  of  Yankees  have  a  decided 
advantage  over  our  English  peasantry  in  the  vise  of  grammatical  language ; 
they  speak  better  English  than  you  will  hear  from  persons  of  the  same  class 
in  any  part  of  England,  Ireland,  or  Scotland  ;  a  fact  that  we  should  be  un- 
willing to  allow  at  home."  —  p.  83. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Witherspoon,  President  of  Princeton  College,  bom  and 
educated  in  Scotland,  made  a  similar  remark  in  1784.  In  an  essay  on  the 
language  he  says : 

"  The  vulgar  in  America  speak  much  better  than  the  vulgar  in  Great 
Bx'itain,  for  a  very  obvious  reason,  namely,  that  being  much  more  unset- 
tled, and  moving  frequently  from  place  to  place,  they  are  not  so  liable  to 
local  peculiarities  either  in  accent  or  phraseology." —  Works,  Vol.  IV.  p. 
281. 

The  London  Quarterly  Review,  in  noticing  Silliman's  Travels  in  Eng- 
land, quotes  his  remark  on  the  use  of  the  English  language  in  England  and 
in  America,  wherein  the  Professor  insists  that  it  is  "  more  correctly  spoken 
at  this  time  (1805)  by  the  mass  of  the  Americans,  than  by  the  mass  of  the 
English  nation."  "  This  assertion,"  adds  the  reviewer,  "  is  founded  upon  a 
common  and  very  easy  mistake  as  to  the  nature  of  provincial  dialects,  and 
upon  a  curious  fact  in  the  history  of  language.  There  are  no  provincial 
dialects  in  America ;  emigrants  from  all  parts  of  Great  Britain  have  met 
there,  and  intermixed  with  each  other,  and  with  natives  of  the  country. 
The  peculiarities  of  dialect  have  necessarily  been  melted  down  into  the 
general  speech,  which  is  common  English ;  and  this  is  the  language,  there- 
fore, which  all  children  learn  as  their  mother  tongue.  The  low-bred  Lon- 
doner does  not  transmit  his  vulgar  shibboleth,  and  the  child  of  the  Northum- 
brian is  free  from  the  burr  which  sticks  in  the  throat  of  his  father.  Dia- 
lects can  only  be  preserved  by  collective  bodies  speaking  the  language 
which  they  acquired  in  their  youth ;  they  cannot  therefore  continue  in  pro- 
miscuous colonies."  —  Vol.  15,  p.  61. 

TVe  cannot  say  as  much,  however,  in  favor  of  our  literary  dialect.  The 
ripest  scholars  among  us  acknowledge  the  fact,  that  in  the  best  authors  and 
public  speakers  of  Great  Bidtain,  there  is  a  variety  in  the  choice  of  expres- 
sions, a  correctness  in  the  use  of  the  particles,  and  an  idiomatic  vigor  and 


XXXU  INTRODUCTION. 

raciness  of  style  to  which  few  or  none  of  our  writers  can  attain.  The  un- 
fortunate tendency  to  favor  the  Latin  at  the  expense  of  the  Saxon  ele- 
ment of  our  language,  which  social  and  educational  causes  have  long  tended  to 
foster  in  the  mother  country,  has  with  us  received  an  additional  impulse  from 
the  great  admixture  of  foreigners  in  our  population.  It  is  not  likely  that  the 
pure  old  idiomatic  English  style  can  ever  be  restored  in  this  country ;  but 
there  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt,  that  the  fusion  of  the  present  rather  hete- 
rogeneous elements  of  which  our  society  is  composed,  will  result  in  the  pro- 
duction of  a  style  and  a  literature  which  will  also  have  their  beauties  and 
j?ierits,  although  fashioned  after  a  somewhat  different  model. 


DICTIONARY 


OF 


AMERICAN    WORDS    AND    PHRASES. 


A  No.  1.  The  highest  classification  of  a  vessel  on  Lloyd's  list.  Years 
ago  it  was  common  to  see  the  mark  appended  to  the  name  of  a  vessel  in 
an  advertisement  for  freight  or  passengers.  So  far  the  term  and  its  use 
are  English ;  but  in  a  commercial  country,  the  use  of  such  terms  is  often 
extended  beyond  their  original  application. 

It  is  well  known  to  those  who  are  in  turn  well  known  to  Stewart,  and  who  stand 
on  his  books  rated  A  No.  1  for  the  length  of  their  bills,  that  the  fitting  out  a  young 
lady  nowadays  for  a  winter  season  in  town,  or  a  summer  season  at  a  watering- 
place,  assimilates  more  nearly  to  preparing  a  vessel  for  a  voyage  around  the  world 
than  any  other  analogous  undertaking.  —  N.  Y'.  Commercial  Advertiser. 

The  Niagara,  New  Orleans,  and  Louisville  packet  is  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
•  steamers  now  running  the  river.     Her  interior  arrangements  are  complete,  and  her 
oQicers  A  No.  1.  —  Western  Paper. 

Got  a  prime  nigger,  said  the  slave-dealer;  em  A  number  one  cook  and  no  mistake! 
picked  her  up  cheap.  — Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  313. 

Abergoin.  The  term  "  aborigines  "  is  corrupted  by  some  of  the  ilhterate 
people  of  the  West  into  Abergoins  or  Abrogans. 

Abisselfa.  a,  by  itself,  A.  It  will  be  recollected  by  many,  that  in  the 
olden  time  the  first  letter  of  the  alphabet  was  denominated  "  abisselfa " 
when  it  formed  a  syllable  by  itself,  as  in  the  word  able.  The  scholar,  in 
spelling  the  word,  was  taught  to  say,  "  a,  by  itself,  a,  (rapidly,  abisselfa,) 
h,  I,  e,  ble,  able."  "We  derive  this  word  and  the  use  of  it  from  England, 
where  it  is  used  in  Suffolk  county.     See  Moor's  Glossary. 

To  Abolitionize.     To  convert  to  the  doctrines  of  the  abohtionists. 

1 


2  ABO— ACE 

About  Right.     To  do  a  thing  about  right  is  to  do  it  well. 

I  fell  foul  of  the  old  mare ;  and  if  I  did  n't  give  it  to  her  ahout  right,  then  there  'a 
none  o'  me,  that 's  all.  —  New  England  Stories. 

Above  Par.  A  term  originally  applied  to  stocks,  but  often  transferred 
to  other  tilings  which  are  superior ;  as,  "  this  horse  is  above  par ; "  "  these 
goods  are  above  par ; "  meaning  that  they  are  above  the  ordinary  stand- 
ard, better  than  common. 

Above  one's  Bend.  Out  of  one's  power.  A  common  expression  in  the 
"Western  States.  Above  one's  huckleberry  is  a  vulgarism  of  the  same 
signification. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  dcsciibe  the  curiosities  at  Peale's  Museum  ;  it  is  above  my 
bend.  —  Crockett,  Tour  Down  East. 

To  Absquatulate.    To  run  away,  to  abscond.     A  factitious  vulgarism. 

W was  surrendered  by  his  bail,  who  was  security  for  his  appearance  at  court 

fearing  he  was  about  to  absquatulate.  —  N.  Y.  Herald,  1847. 

A  i-ailroad  station-master  at  Oakdale  has  absquatulated  with  funds  belonging 
to  the  railroad  and  various  individuals.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Hope's  brightest  visions  absquatulate  with  their  golden  promises  before  the  least 
cloud  of  disappointment,  and  leave  not  a  shinplaster  beliind.  — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol. 
I.  p.  309. 

According  to  Gunter.  Gunter  was  a  distinguished  arithmetician,  and 
the  inventor  of  a  chain  and  scale  for  measuring.  The  Laws  of  Rhode 
Island,  both  colonial  and  recent,  referring  to  measures,  say,  "  All  casks 
shall  be  gauged  by  the  rule  commonly  called  '  gauging  by  Gunter.' " 
Hence  any  thing  correctly  and  properly  done  is  said  to  be  "  according  to 
Gunter." 

Mr.  K ,  a  respected  citizeji  of  Detroit,  has  published  a  letter  entirely  exoner- 
ating General  Cass  from  the  charge  of  having  defrauded  his  association  in  the  land 
speculations.     He  is  positive  that  all  was  done  according  to  Gunter.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Account.  "These  hogs  are  of  no  account"  meaning  of  no  value.  The 
word  is  used  in  the  West  to  the  exclusion  of  other  shades  of  meaning. 
See  No  Account. 

Accountability.  The  state  of  being  accountable.  In  England,  the  form 
accountableness  is  used.  The  same  difference  is  observable  in  a  number 
of  words. 

Acequia.  (Span.)  The  irrigating  ditches  used  in  Texas  and  New 
Mexico  are  called  Acequias  ;  the  larger  or  principal  one,  which  supplies 
the  smaller,  is  called  the  Acequia  Madre,  or  main  ditch.  The  woixl  is 
sometimes  spelt  azequia  or  zequia. 

As  the  mustang  sprang  over  the  zequia,  the  flowing  skirt  of  the  manga  was  puffed 
forward.  —  Mayne  Reid,  The  War  Trail. 


ACK— ADM  S 

Acknowledge  the  Corx.  An  expression  of  recent  origin,  wliicli  has 
now  become  very  common.  It  means  to  confess  or  acknowledge  a 
charge  or  imputation.  The  followmg  story  is  told  as  the  origin  of  the 
phrase: 

Some  years  ago,  a  raw  customer,  from  the  upper  country,  determined  to  try  his 
fortune  at  New  Orleans.  Accordingly  he  provided  himself  \nth.  two  flat-boats,  —  one 
laden  with  com  and  the  other  with  potatoes,  —  and  down  the  river  he  went.  The 
night  after  his  arrival  he  went  up  town,  to  a  gambling-house.  Of  course  he  com- 
menced betting,  and,  his  luck  proving  unfortunate,  he  lost.  When  his  money  was 
gone,  he  bet  his  "  truck ;  "  and  the  com  and  potatoes  followed  the  money.  At  last, 
when  completely  cleaned  out,  he  returned  to  his  boats  at  the  wharf;  when  the  evi- 
dences of  a  new  misfortune  presented  themselves.  Through  some  accident  or  other, 
the  flat-boat  containing  the  com  was  sunk,  and  a  total  loss.  Consoling  himself  as 
well  as  he  could,  he  went  to  sleep,  dreaming  of  gamblers,  potatoes,  and  com.  It 
was  scarcely  sunrise,  however,  when  he  was  disturbed  by  the  "  child  of  chance," 
who  had  arrived  to  take  possession  of  the  two  boats  as  his  winnings.  Slowly 
awakening  from  his  sleep,  our  hero,  rubbing  his  eyes  and  looking  the  man  in  the 
face,  replied  :  "  Stranger,  /  acknowledge  the  com  —  take  'em ;  but  the  potatoes  you 
can't  have,  by  thunder ! "  —  Pittsburgh  Com.  Advertiser. 

The  Evening  Mirror  very  naively  comes  out  and  acknowledges  the  com,  admits  that 
a  demand  was  made,  etc.  —  New  York  Herald,  June  27,  1846. 

Enough,  said  the  Captain.  I  'm  hoaxed,  I  'm  gloriously  hoaxed.  /  acknowledge 
the  corn.  —  Pickings  fiom  the  Picayune,  p.  80. 

None  of  my  enterprises,  however,  have  been  omitted,  and,  though  a  portion  of  my 
"  Confessions  "  may  by  some  be  considered  injudicious,  I  prefer  frankly  to 
acknowledge  the  corn,  wherever  I  have  had  a  hand  in  plucking  it.  —  P.  T. 
Barnum. 

Across  Lots.     By  short  cuts,  in  the  quickest  manner. 

I  swore  in  Nauvoo,  when  my  enemies  were  looking  me  in  the  face,  that  I  would 
send  them  to  hell  across  lots  if  they  meddled  with  me.  —  Speech  of  Brigham  Young, 
1857. 

Action.  An  amusing  article  appeared  in  the  National  Intelligencer, 
Washington,  in  1846,  on  the  abuse  of  this  word.  The  writer  says :  — 
"  The  proceedings  of  Congress ;  the  decision  of  Congress ;  or  either  House ;  the 
vote  of  the  Senate  or  of  the  House,  preliminary  or  final ;  the  consideration  of  a  bill 
or  measure ;  the  signature  of  the  President  after  a  bill  has  passed  both  Houses ;  or 
the  sanction  or  approval  of  the  President  —  these  are  modes  of  expression  no  longer 
known.  The  words  I  underscore  have  disappeared  —  gone  for  ever,  it  would  seem. 
Nobody  hears  of  them  more.  It  is  the  action  of  the  House,  or  the  House  taking 
action ;  the  action  of  the  Senate,  or  the  Senate  taking  action ;  or  what  action  will  the 
House  take,  or  what  action  will  the  Senate  take  ;  or  both  Houses  are  waiting  for  the 
action  of  the  President." 

Adam  and  Eve.  (Aplectum  hyemale.)  Putty  root,  so  called  from  the 
bulb  of  the  preceding  year  being  always  connected  with  the  new 
one. 

To  Admire.     1.  To  wonder  at ;  to  be  affected  with  slight  surprise.  —  Ray. 


4  ADO— ALB 

In  New  England,  particularly  in  Maine,  the  word  is  used  in  this  sense. 
Some  of  the  old  English  writers  so  employed  it. 

I  perceive  these  lords 
At  this  rencontre  do  so  much  admire. 
That  they  devour  their  reason.  —  Skakspeare. 

2.  To  like  very  much.  This  verb  is  often  and  very  absurdly  used  in 
New  England  in  such  expressions  as,  "  I  should  admire  to  see  the  Presi- 
dent." 

Adobies.  (Span,  adobes.)  Sun-baked  brick  used  for  building  houses,  for- 
tifications, and  making  inclosures,  in  Texas,  New  Mexico,  etc. 

The  large  and  economical  adobe  brick,  hardened  in  the  sun  and  without  fire,  super- 
sedes other  materials  for  walls  and  fences  in  this  dry  atmosphere  [that  of  the  great 
*     Plains],  and,  as  in  Syi'ia  and  Egj-pt,  resists  decay  for  centuries. —  W.  Gilpin,  in 
Nat.  IntelL,  1857. 

To  Africanize.     To  place  under  Negro  domination. 

Africanization.  The  act  of  placing  under  Negro  domination.  This 
and  the  preceding  are  words  of  recent  introduction  by  Southern  political 
writers. 

After  Night.  After  nightfall ;  in  the  evening ;  as,  "  A  meeting  will  be 
held  in  the  court-house  after  night."  This  expression  is  said  to  be 
peculiar  to  the  Middle  States.  —  ffurd's  Grammatical  Corrector. 

Aggravate.     Used  improperly  for  maltreat,  etc. 

Aguardiente.  (Span.)  A  kind  of  brandy  distilled  from  red  wine,  in 
Mexico  and  Cuba. 

Agur-forty.     Aqua-fortis,  vulgarly  so  called  at  the  South-west. 

The  doctors  fed  me  on  lodlum  tea  and  epccac,  washed  down  with  myrtle  tea  — 
'twan't  of  no  manner  of  use;  they  then  tried  agur-forty — if  it  had  been  agur-hun- 
dred,  't  would  n't  have  done.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times,  Frontier  Tale. 

Aguy,  for  ague ;  fever-arC-aguy,  for  "  fever  and  ague ; "  common  among  the 
uneducated,  wherever  this  distressing  disease  is  known.  The  word  ague 
is  pronounced  in  some  localities  so  as  to  rhyme  with  plague. 

Ahead.  Forward,  in  advance.  This  word,  originally  a  sea  term,  is  now 
in  very  common  use  by  all  classes  of  speakers  and  writers. 

Our  banks,  being  anxious  to  make  money  for  their  stockholders,  are  probably 
riglit  to  drive  ahead,  regardless  of  consequences,  etc.  —  N,  Y.  Com.  Adv.,  Nov.  29, 
1845. 

Ajee.     Askew  ;  as  "  to  have  one's  hat  ajee." 
Alamo,     (Span.)     See  Cotton-wood. 

Albany  Beef.  Sturgeon ;  so  called  because  it  abounds  in  the  Hudson 
River,  and  is  much  eaten  in  the  city  of  Albany. 


ALB  — ALL  6 

Albany  Hemp.  (  Urtica  canadensis.)  Canada  nettle,  so  called  from  the 
use  made  of  its  fibrous  bai-k. 

Alder.  Beside  the  true  alders,  various  shrubs  belonging  to  quite  differ- 
ent families  are  so  called,  generally  on  account  of  a  resemblance  in 
the  leaves ;  thus,  Rhamnus  alnijlorius  (alder-leaved  buckthorn)  is 
"  dwarf  alder ; "   Clcthra  alnifoUa  (sweet  pepper  bush)  is  "  spiked  "  or 

•    "  white  alder  ; "  Prinos  verticillatus  (winter  berry)  is  "  black  alder." 

Alewife,  plur.  Alewives.  (Indian,  aloof.  Alosa  vemalis,  Storer,  Massa- 
chusetts Report.)  A  fish  of  the  herring  kind,  abounding  in  the  waters  of 
New  England. 

The  name  appears  to  be  an  Indian  one,  though  it  is  somewhat  changed,  as  ap- 
pears by  the  earliest  account  we  have  of  it.  In  former  times,  the  Indians  made 
use  of  these  fish  to  manure  their  lands,  as  the  menhaden  are  now  used.  Mr.  Win- 
throp  says :  "  Where  the  ground  is  bad  or  worn-out,  they  put  two  or  three  of  the 
fishes  called  aloofes  under  or  adjacent  to  each  corn-hill ;  whereby  they  had  many 
times  a  double  crop  to  what  the  ground  would  otherwise  have  produced-  The  Eng- 
lish have  learned  the  like  husbandry,  where  these  aloofes  come  up  in  great  plenty."  — 
Philosophical  Trans.,  1678. 

Algic.  Eelating  to  the  Algonkin  tribes.  Formed  by  Mr.  Schoolcraft 
from  the  w^ord  AlgonJdn. 

Alienage.  The  state  of  being  an  alien.  —  Webster.  Neither  this  nor  the 
following  word  is  to  be  found  in  the  English  dictionaries,  except  the 
recent  one  of  Mr.  Knowles.  They  are  common,  however,  in  professional 
books. 

Where  he  sues  an  executor,  etc.,  the  plaintiff's  alienage  is  no  plea. — Laires's 
Pleading  on  Assumpsit,  p.  687. 

To  restore  estates,  forfeitable  on  account  of  alienage.  — Judge  Story. 

Alienism.     The  state  of  being  an  alien.  —  Webster,  Knowles. 

The  prisoner  was  convicted  of  murder ;  on  his  arraignment  he  suggested  his 
alienism,  which  was  admitted.  — 2  Johnson's  Reports,  381. 

The  law  was  very  gentle  in  the  construction  of  the  disability  of  alienism. — 
Chancellor  Kent. 

All  any  more.  A  common  expression  in  Pennsylvania  among  the  illi- 
terate to  mean  "  all  gone."     Thus  a  servant  will  say,  "  The  potatoes  is 

all  any  more"  i. e.  are  all  gone ;  or  she  wiU  say  simply,  "  They 's  all." 
« 
All-fired.     Enormous,  excessive ;  enormously,  excessively.     A  low  ex- 
pression ;    probably  a    puritanical  corruption  of  hell-fired,  designed  to 
have  the  virtue  of  an  oath  without  ofiending  polite  ears. 

I  was  woked  up  by  a  noise  in  the  street ;  so  I  jumps  up  in  an  cdl-fired  hurry,  ups 
with  the  window,  and  outs  with  my  head.  —  Sam  Slick. 

I'm  dying  —  I  know  I  am!     My  mouth  tastes  like  a  nisty  cent.     The  doctor  will 
charge  an  all-Jired  price  to  cure  me. -- Knickerbocker  Mag.,  1845. 
1* 


6  ALL  — ALL 

The  first  thins?  I  know'd,  my  trowsers  were  pLastered  all  over  with  hot  molasses, 
which  burnt  all-Jired  bad. — Major  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  87. 

Old  Haines  sweating  like  a  pitclier  with  ice-water  in  it,  and  looking  all-Jired  tired. 
—  Porter's  Tales  of  the  South-west,  p.  50. 

You  see  the  fact  is,  Squire  (said  the  Ilooshicr),  they  had  a  mighty  deal  to  say  up 
in  our  parts  about  Orleans,  and  how  all-Jired  easy  it  is  to  make  money  in  it ;  but  it 's 
no  ham  and  all  hominy,  I  reckon.  — Pickings  from  the  Picayune,  p.  67. 

All-firedly.     Enormously,  excessively. 

Rum  does  every  thing  that  is  bad ;  wonder  if  it  is  rum  that  makes  potatoes  rot 
so  all-Jiredhj.  —  Milne,  Farm  Fence,  p.  8. 

All-possessed.     Affected  by  evil  spirits,  or  demons  ;  possessed. 

Bill  Jenkins  was  a  dreadful  mean  man ;  used  to  get  drunk  every  day,  and  swore 
like  all-possessed  when  he  got  mad.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  30. 

All  sorts  of.  A  Southern  expression,  synonymous  with  expert,  acute, 
excellent,  capital.  It  answers  to  the  English  slang  term  hang-up  or  out- 
and-out.  It  is  a  prevalent  idiom  of  low  life,  and  often  heard  in  the  col- 
loquial language  of  the  better  informed.  A  man  who  in  New  England 
would  be  called  a  curious  or  a  smart  fellow,  would  in  the  South  be  called 
all  sorts  of  a  fellow. 

She  was  all  sorts  of  a  gal  —  there  wam't  a  sprinklin'  too  much  of  her  :  she  had 
an  eye  that  would  make  a  fellow's  heart  try  to  get  out  of  his  bosom,  her  step 
was  light  as  a  panther's,  and  her  breath  sweet  as  a  prairie  flower.  —  Eobb,  Squatter 
Life. 

If  you  can  only  get  Kit  rid  of  them  little  faiUngs  [blindness  and  deafness],  you  '11 
find  him  all  sorts  of  a  horse.  —  Traits  ofAmer.  Humor. 

All-to-pieces.  1.  Excessively  ;  as  "  I  beat  him  last  night  at  poker  all- 
to-pieces." 

2.  Excessive,  out  and  out. 

Miss  G sot  down  in  a  rocking-chair,  hauled  out  her  snuffbox,  (for  she  was 

an  aU4o-pieces  snufftaker,)  and  began  to  rock  and  snuff  and  rock  as  hard  as  ever 
she  could.  —  Widoio  Bedott  Papers,  p.  124. 

All-to-smash.  Smashed  to  pieces.  This  expression  is  often  heard  in 
low  and  familiar  language.  It  is  an  English  provinciaUsm.  Mr.  Halli- 
well  says,  that  a  Lancashire  man,  telling  his  master  the  mill-dam  had 
burst,  exclaimed,  "  Maister,  maister,  dam's  brossen,  and  atv^s-to-smash." 
—  Archaic  and  Prov.  Dictionary.     See  Smash. 

Alley.  1.  A  place  where  the  game  of  nine  or  ten  pins  is  played; 
usually  called  a  nine  or  ten  pin  alley,  and  sometimes  simply  an  alley. 

2.  An  ornamental  marble,  used  by  boys  for  shooting  in  the  ring, 
etc. ;  also  called  in  England,  a  taw.  It  is  made  of  marble  or  of  painted 
clay. 

Alligator.     1.  A  large  American  reptile,  resembhng  the  Egyptian  cro- 


ALL  — ALO  t 

codile,  having  a  wide,  obtuse  muzzle  and  unequal  teeth.  Though  still 
numerous  in  Florida,  Louisiana,  and  Texas,  they  are  no  longer  regarded 
as  very  dangerous.  The  name,  according  to  Cuvier,  is  a  corruption  of 
the  Portuguese  lagarto,  equivalent  to  the  Latin  lacerta. 

2.  In  the  "Western  States,  the  name  is  applied  also  to  the  Menopoma 
allegheniensis,  a  salamandroid  animal. 

Alligator  Gar.  The  gar-fish  of  the  South,  so  called  from  the  resem- 
blance its  long  jaws  bear  to  those  of  the  alligator. 

Alligator  Pear.  {Laurus  persea.)  A  West  Indian  fruit,  resembling  a 
pear  in  shape.  It  contains  Avithin  its  rind  a  yellow  butyraceous  substance, 
which,  when  the  fruit  is  perfectly  ripe,  constitutes  an  agreeable  food. 
Also  called  Avocado  or  Avigato  Pear.  In  England  it  is  sometimes 
called  Vegetable  Marrow. 

To  ALLOT  UPON".  To  intend,  to  form  a  purpose  ;  as,  I  allot  upon  going  to 
Boston.     Used  by  uneducated  people  in  the  interior  of  New  England. 

To  Allow.     To  declare,  assert,  maintain. 

The  lady  of  the  cabin  seemed  kind,  and  allowed  we  had  better  stop  where  we 
were.  —  Carlton,  Tlie  New  Purchase. 

Gentlemen  from  Arkansas  allowed  that  California  was  no  better  than  other  coun- 
tries ;  and  the  proof  of  it  was,  that  they  could  only  get  twenty  dollars  a  week  and 
board  offered  them  for  driving  an  ox-team.  — Farnham,  California. 

He  'lowed  he'd  ge  me  half  a  crown. 

An  treat  me  wud  some  beer. 
If  I  wud  make  it  up  wud  him. 

An  let  un  goo  off  clear. 

Tom  Cladpole's  Journey  to  Lunnun. 

Allspice.  1.  The  ai'omatic  berry  of  the  Eugenia  pimenta,  the  Allspice 
Pimento  or  Bayberry  Tree,  a  native  of  South  America  and  the  "West 
India  Islands.  From  being  cultivated  in  Jamaica  it  is  often  called  Ja- 
maica Pepper. 

2.  The  "  sweet-scented  shrub  "  ( CaJycanthus  Jloridus)  is  also  known 
as  Carolina  Allspice,  the  bark  and  wood  having  a  somewhat  spicy  flavor. 

Almighty  Dollar.     A  term  applied  to  money  as  "  the  root  of  all  evil." 

The  almighty  dollar,  that  great  object  of  universal  devotion  throughout  our  land, 
seems  to  liave  no  genuine  devotee  in  these  peculiar  [Creole]  villages.  —  W.  Irving, 
Wdfert's  Roost,  p.  40. 

The  almighty  dollar  exerted  a  more  powerful  influence  in  California  than  in  the  old 
States;  for  it  overcame  all  preexisting  false  notions  of  dignity. — Borihwick's  Cali- 
fornia, p.  165. 

Along.  Forward,  on.  Mrs.  TroUope  has  the  following  words:  "We 
must  try  to  get  along,  as  the  Americans  say."  Lover  also  was  puzzled 
to  discover  what  the  young  American  lady  meant  by  saying  that  she  was 


8  ALT  — AME 

so  unwell  that  she  "  could  not  get  along."     An  Englishman  would  say, 
get  on. 

To  Alter.     To  geld ;  as  horses,  swine,  etc. 

Alonsenel.  The  Mexican  name  for  Gowania  stanshuriana,  a  plant 
growing  extensively  in  the  vicinity  of  Salt  Lake,  and  held  in  great 
esteem  as  a  styptic  in  hemorrhages,  and  as  a  general  astringent. 

Alum-Root.  {Henchera  americana.)  A  plant  so  called  from  its  astrin- 
gency. 

To  Amalgamate.  This  word,  which  properly  denotes  the  uniting  of 
mercury  with  other  metals,  is  universally  applied,  in  the  United  States, 
to  the  mixing  of  the  black  and  white  races. 

Amalgamation.    The  mixing  or  union  of  the  black  and  white  races. 

Amazing.     Amazingly,  wonderfully,  exceedingly.     A  vulgarism. 

Every  thing  in  New  York  on  a  May-day  looks  amazin'  different,  and  smells  amazin* 
different,  I  can  tell  you.  —  Major  Downing,  p.  43. 

Mr.  Magwire  is  a  steady,  well-meanin'  man  —  and  has  got  along  amazin'  pros- 
perous in  the  world ;  but  he  has  dreadful  curious  notions.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers, 
p.  49. 

Ambia.  Used  in  the  South  and  "West  for  tobacco  juice.  It  is  a  euphemism 
for  the  spittle  produced  by  this  voluntary  ptyalism.  More  commonly 
spelled  and  pronounced  Ambeer,  probably  from  Ambre  —  denoting  its  color. 

Ambition.  In  North  Carolina  this  word  is  used  instead  of  the  word 
grudge  ;  as,  "  I  had  an  ambition  against  that  man."  I  am  credibly  in- 
formed, that  it  is  even  employed  in  this  manner  by  educated  men. 

Ambitious.  Angry,  enraged.  A  native  of  Georgia  was  heard  to  say,  "  I 
was  powerful  ambitious  and  cussed  snortin'."  The  word  is  used  in  the 
West  in  a  similar  sense.  Thus,  they  say  an  "  ambitious  horse,"  meaning 
thereby  a  horse  that  is  fiery  and  unmanageable. 

Amenability.  State  of  being  amenable  or  answerable.  —  Judge  Story. 
Webster.     Not  in  the  English  dictionaries. 

Americanism.  A  way  of  speaking  peculiar  to  this  country.  —  Wither- 
spoon. 

"  By  Americanism"  says  Dr.  Witherspoon,  "  I  understand  a  use  of 
phrases  or  terms,  or  a  construction  of  sentences,  even  among  persons  of 
rank  and  education,  different  from  the  use  of  the  same  terms  or  phrases, 
or  the  construction  of  similar  sentences,  in  Great  Britain.  In  this  sense 
it  is  exactly  similar  in  its  formation  and  signification  to  the  word  '  Scotti- 
cism.'"— IForfc,  Vol.  IV. 


AME— ANT  9 

To  Americanize.  To  render  American ;  to  naturalize  in  America.  — 
Webster. 

Amekicanization.  The  act  of  rendering  American,  or  of  subjection  to 
the  laws  and  usages  of  the  United  States. 

Among  the  missing.     To  be  among  the  missing,  is  to  absent  one's  self. 

K  a  person  inquires  if  you  are  at  home,  the  servant  is  directed  to  say,  No,  if  you 
don't  want  to  be  seen,  and  choose  to  be  among  the  missing.  —  S.  Slick,  Nature  and 
Human  Nature,  p.  17. 

The  crowd  of  office-seekers  in  Washington  will  be  among  the  missing,  when  they 
learn  the  President's  decision.  —  New  York  Herald. 

Among,  for  between.  This  word  is  often  used  when  reference  is  made  only 
to  two  persons.     Ex.  "  The  money  was  divided  among  us  two." 

Amost.  Almost.  A  vulgarism  alike  common  in  England  and  the  United 
States.     JE'en  amost  is  often  heard  in  New  England. 

Anan.  How  ?  What  do  you  say  ?  It  is  made  use  of  in  vulgar  discourse 
by  the  lower  class  of  persons  addressing  a  superior,  when  they  do  not 
hear  or  comprehend  what  is  said  to  them.  It  is  going  out  of  use  now.  — 
Halliwell.     The  word  is  common  in  Pennsylvania. 

Anchovy  Pear.  ( Grias  caulijlora.)  A  fruit  of  Jamaica.  It  is  large, 
contains  a  stone,  and  is  esculent. 

Annexation.  Often  used  in  the  restricted  sense  of  the  addition  of  new 
territory  to  that  of  the  United  States,  and  often  with  the  accessory  idea 
of  unlawful  acquisition. 

Annexationist.     One  who  favors  the  policy  of  annexation. 

An't  or  ain't,  a  common  colloquial  abbreviation,  both  in  England  and 
America,  for  am  not  and  are  not.  It  is,  however,  often  used  among  us, 
both  by  speakers  and  newspaper  writers,  instead  of  the  proper  abbre- 
viation isn't  for  is  not;  as,  "Is  Sam  a  KJiow-nothing ? "  "He  ain't 
nothing  else." 

To  Anti.  To  risk ;  to  venture  a  bet ;  as,  "  I  '11  anti  all  I  'm  worth  on  that." 
This  term  is  derived  from  the  game  of  poker — the  amount  placed  in  the 
pool  by  each  player  being  called  the  anti.     South-western. 

Anti-Federalist.  "  This  word  was  formed  about  the  year  1788,  to  de- 
note a  person  of  the  political  party  that  opposed  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  which  was  then  always  spoken  of  by  the 
name  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  The  word  is  not  now  much  used ; 
having  been  superseded  by  various  other  names,  which  have  been  suc- 
cessively given  to  the  same  party."  —  Pickering's  Vocabulary. 

Anti-Mason.     One  hostile  to  masonry  or  free-masonry.  —  Worcester. 


10  ANT— APP 

Anti-Masonic.     Hostile  to  masonry. 

Anti-Masonry.     Hostility  to  masonry. 

Anti-Slavery.     Hostile  to  slavery. 

Ant  thing  else.  A  hyperbolical  plirase,  denoting  a  strong  affirmation, 
which  has  recently  sprung  up  and  become  quite  common,  is  given  in  the 
following  quotation :  — 

Loco  Foco.    Did  n't  Gen.  Cass  get  mad  at  Hull's  cowardice,  and  break  his  sword  1 
Whig.     He  did  n't  do  any  thing  else.  — Newspaper. 

Any  how  you  can  fix  it.    At  any  rate  whatever. 

Anxious  Meeting.    A  religious  meeting  consequent  on  a  revival. 

Anxious  Seat.  A  term  used  in  revival  phraseology.  A  seat  occupied 
by  those  who  feel  anxious  about  their  spiritual  welfare. 

Aparajo.     (Span.,  pron.  opardho.)     A  pack-saddle.     The  word   is  em- 
ployed in  the  countries  acquired  from  Mexico,  where  pack-saddles  are 
used. 
Apishamore.    a  saddle-blanketj  made  of  buffalo-calf  skins,  used  on  the 
great  prairies. 

Wolves  are  a  constant  annoyance  on  the  plains,  creeping  to  the  camp  fires,  and 
gnawing  the  saddles  and  apishamores.  —  Ruxton,  Far  West. 

Appellate.     Relating  to  appeals. 

In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  etc.,  the  supreme  court  shall  have  original 
jurisdiction  :  In  all  other  cases  before  mentioned,  the  supreme  court  shall  have  appel- 
Zafe  jurisdiction.  —  Constitut.  of  the  United  States,  Art.  3. 

The  king  of  France  is  not  the  fountain  of  justice  ;  the  judges,  neither  the  original 
nor  the  appellate,  are  of  his  nomination.  —  Burke,  Revolution, 

For  a  fuUer  account  of  this  word,  about  which  there  has  been  much 
discussion  by  lexicographers,  see  Mr.  Pickering's  Vocabulary,  where 
many  authorities  are  cited.  It  was  first  given  by  Mason,  in  his  supple- 
ment to  Johnson's  Dictionary,  and  was  afterwards  adopted  by  Todd. 

Apple.  This  name  is  given  in  the  tropics  to  fruits  of  various  kinds 
which  are  not  apples  ;  as  the  Bel-apple,  Cashew-apple,  Custard-apple, 
Conch-apple,  Ground-apple,  Mamma-apple,  Monkey-apple,  Pine-apple, 
Sugar-apple,  Wood-apple,  etc. 

Apple  Butter.  A  sauce  made  of  apples  stewed  down  in  cider.  This  is 
generally  made  in-  quantity,  and  kept  for  use  during  the  winter.  The 
manufacture  occupies  a  whole  night,  and  is  made  the  occasion  of  a  frolic 
among  the  young  folks. 

Apple  Brandy,  ")  A   liquor   distilled  from  fermented   apple-juice ;    also 
Apple  Jack.       |      called  Cider  Brandy. 

It  was  feared  that  the  conquerors  of  Groed  Hope,  flushed  with  victory  and  apple 


APP  — ARG  11 

brandy,  might  march  to  the  capital,  take  it  by  stonn,  and  annex  the  whole  province 
to  Connecticut.  —  W.  Irving,  Knickerbocker. 

Apple  Toddt.  A  favorite  mixture  resembling  punch,  in  which  roasted 
apples  take  the  place  of  lemons. 

Applicant.  One  who  applies  himself  closely  to  his  studies.  A  sense 
of  the  word  common  in  New  England. 

The  English  appear  to  use  the  word  only  in  the  sense  of  "  one  who  ap- 
plies for  any  thing,"  in  which  sense  it  is  most  commonly  employed  by  us. 

Appointable.  That  may  be  appointed  or  constituted;  as  oflficers  are 
appointed  by  the  Executive.  —  Federalist,  Webster. 

To  Appreciate,  v.  a.  To  raise  the  value  of. —  Webster.  This  sense 
of  the  word  is  not  in  any  English  dictionary  except  Knowles's,  wliich  is 
quite  a  recent  work. 

Lest  a  sudden  peace  should  appreciate  the  money.  —  Ramsay. 

Also,  V.  n.  to  rise  in  value ;  as,  "  the  currency  of  the  countiy 
appreciates."  —  Webster.  The  common  acceptation  of  the  word,  however, 
with  us,  as  in  England,  is  to  value,  estimate. 

Appreciation.  A  rising  in  value ;  increase  of  worth  or  value. —  Webster. 
This  noun,  like  the  verb  from  which  it  is  derived,  is  commonly  used  by 
us  in  its  appropriate  me^ming  of  estimation,  valuation ;  and  this  wiU 
hereafter  be  understood  of  all  similar  words  where  a  peculiar  meaning 
is  assigned  to  them,  unless  an  express  statement  is  made  to  the 
contrary. 

To  Approbate.  (Lat.  approlo,  to  approve.)  This  word  was  formerly 
much  used  at  our  colleges,  instead  of  the  old  English  word  approve. 
The  students  used  to  speak  of  having  their  performances  approbated  by 
their  instructors.  It  is  now  in  common  use  with  our  clergy  as  a  sort  of 
technical  term,  to  denote  a  person  who  is  licensed  to  preach  ;  they  would 
say,  such  a  one  is  approbated,  that  is,  licensed  to  preach.  It  is  also  com- 
mon in  New  England  to  say  of  a  person  who  is  licensed  by  the  county 
courts  to  sell  spirituous  liquors,  or  to  keep  a  public-house,  that  he  is 
approbated ;  and  the  term  is  adopted  in  the  law  of  Massachusetts  on 
this  subject.  —  Pickering's  Vocabulary. 

Dr.  Webster  observes,  that  this  is  a  modern  word,  but  in  common  use 
in  America.  Mr.  Todd  introduce^'  it  in  his  edition  of  Johnson,  from 
Cockeram's  old  vocabulary,  the  definition  of  which  is,  "  to  allow,  to  hke." 
Mr.  Todd  says  it  is  obsolete. 

All  things  contained  in  Scripture  is  approbate  by  the  whole  consent  of  all  the 
clergie  of  Christendom.  —  Sir  T.  Elyot's  Governor,  fol.  226. 

To  Argufy.     To  argue ;  also  to  import,  signify.     This  word  has  a  place 


12  AEG  — ARE 

in  several  of  the  English  glossaries.     In  this  country  it  is  only  heard 
among  the  most  illiterate. 

Argufying.     Arguing. 

I  listen  to  a  preacher,  and  try  to  be  better  for  his  argufying.  —  iSam  Slick,  Human 
Nature. 

Aristocratic.  Strangely  misapplied  in  those  parts  of  the  country  where 
the  population  is  not  dense.  The  city,  in  the  surrounding  country  towns, 
is  deemed  "  aristocratic."  The  people  in  the  villages  consider  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  towns  "  aristocratic,"  and  so  on.  The  term  is  not  applied  so 
much  to  those  who  make  pretensions  as  to  those  who  live  in  better  style, 
and  have  more  of  the  comforts  and  refinements  of  life  about  them ;  it  is 
very  common  in  small  country  newspapers  and  in  poHtical  speeches  in 
out  of  the  way  places. 

There  have  been  more  than  one  hundred  steamboat  amvals  here  since  our  last 

issue.     \ye  believe  that  the  aristocratic  Maj'flower  was  among  them. — Illinois 

Paper. 

Ark.  a  large  boat,  employed  on  our  rivers  before  the  introduction  of 
steamboats,  to  transport  merchandise.     See  Fiat-Boat. 

Arkansas  Toothpick.  A  bowie  knife  of  a  peculiar  kind,  the  blade  of 
which  shuts  up  into  the  handle. 

Straightway  leaped  the  valiant  Slingsby 

Into  armor  of  Seville, 
With  a  strong  Arkansas  toothpick, 

Screwed  in  eveiy  joint  of  steel. 

Bon  Gaultier,  American  Ballads. 

Armory.  A  place  or  building  where  fire-arms  are  manufactured ;  as,  the 
"  Springfield  Armory." 

Around.     About,  near ;  as,  "  Sam  is  around  in  New  York." 
I  was  standing  around  when  the  fight  took  place.  —  Police  Gazette. 

A  friend  assures  me  he  has  heard  a  clergyman  in  his  sermon  say  of 
one  of  the  disciples,  that  "  he  stood  around  the  cross." 

Arriero.  (Span.)  A  muleteer.  The  Mexicans,  who  are  the  most  ex- 
pert in  this  business,  are  invariably  employed  in  Texas,  and  for  all  mule 
trains  used  in  the  commerce  of  the  prairies. 

Arrow  Head.  (^Sagittaria  variabilis.)  A  common  and  very  variable 
aquatic  plant,  so  called  from  the  shape  of  its  leaf. 

Arrow  "Wood.  (  Viburnum  dentaium.')  It  is  from  the  long  and  straight 
stems  of  this  shrub  that  the  Indians  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Pacific  make  their  arrows. 

Arroyo.     (Span.)     See  Gulch. 


ART— ASS  la 

Art  or  Airy.  A  common  corruption  of  e'er  a ;  as  "  Lend  me  a  dime." 
"  I  have  n't  got  ary  one."     See  also  Nary. 

The  Court  do  declare,  that  if  R.  S arrest  or  molest  any  member  of  this 

colony,  in  airy  other  jurisdiction  for  lawfully  obstructing  him,  this  colony  will 
stand  by  such.  —  Rhode  Island  Col.  Records,  1659. 

As,  for  that,  which  ;  as  "  nobody  as  I  ever  heard  on."     This  vulgarism  is 
•  confined  to  the  illiterate.     It  is  noticed  in  the  Craven   and   Hereford- 
shire Glossaries. 

As  GOOD  AS.  In  the  phrase,  I  'd  as  good 's  go  to  New  York,  instead  of 
"  I  might  as  well  go  to  New  York."     Only  heard  among  the  illiterate. 

As  LOXG  AS.  Because,  since.  "  "We  '11  come,  as  long  as  it 's  pleasant." 
New  York. 

Ash-cake.    A  corn-cake  baked  in  the  ashes.     Southern. 

Ash-cart.     A  cart  that  goes  from  door  to  door  to  collect  ashes. 

Ash-hopper.  A  lye  cask,  or  an  inverted  pyramidal  box  to  contain  ashes, 
resembling  a  hopper  in  a  mill.  They  are  common  in  the  country,  where 
people  make  their  own  soap. 

AsHLAXDERS.  A  club  of  Baltimore  rowdies,  so  named  probably  from 
Henry  Clay,  of  Ashland. 

Associated  Press.  A  number  of  newspaper  establishments  in  New 
York  and  elsewhere,  which  have  entered  into  a  joint  arrangement  for 
procuring  telegraphic  and  other  news  to  be  equally  furnished  to  them  all, 
have  assumed  the  name  of  "  The  Associated  Press." 

Association.  1.  In  ecclesiastical  affairs,  a  society  of  the  clergy,  consist- 
ing of  a  number  of  pastors  of  neighboring  churches,  united  for  promot- 
ing the  interests  of  religion  and  the  harmony  of  the  churches.  —  Web- 
ster. 

2.  In  civil  affairs,  this  word  is  much  used  at  the  present  day,  to  denote 
the  principle  of  uniting  the  producing  classes  in  societies,  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  for  themselves  a  larger  share  of  the  fruits  of  their  labor. 

We  do  not  claim  that  our  rales  are  perfect,  but  we  wish  to  make  them  so  ;  being 
finnly  convinced  that  the  science  taught  by  Fourier  will  ultimately  lead  us  into  true 
Association,  if  we  follow  it  as  a  science,  and  that  we  must  have  some  correct  rules 
of  progress  to  govern  us  during  the  transition  period  from  civilization  to  Associa- 
tion.  — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Associatioxal.     Pertaining  to  an  association  of  clergymen.  —  Webster. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  license,  and  afterwards  to  be  admitted  to  ordination,  they 
(the  students  in  divinity)  must,  in  each  case,  pass  through  the  Associaiional  or  Pre* 
byterian  examination.  —  Quarterly  Review,  1815. 

Associationist.     One  who  advocates  the  Fourier  doctrine  of  association^ 

2 


U  AT— AVA 

At,  for  by.     Used  in  the  expression,  "  Sales  at  auction." 

The  English  say,  "  Sales  hy  auction,"  and  this  is  in  analogy  with  the 
expressions.  Sales  by  inch  of  candle  ;  Sales  hy  private  contract.  —  Pick- 
cringes  Vocab. 

At,  for  in.  The  very  common  expressions  "  at  the  North,"  "  at  the  "West," 
instead  of  "  in  the  North,"  "  in  the  "West,"  offend  an  English  ear. 

At  is  often  used  superfluously  in  the  South  and  West,  as  in  the  question, 
«  Where  is  he  at  ?  " 

At  that,  a  cant  phrase,  which  has  recently  become  popular.  It  is  used 
to  define  more  nearly  or  intensify  something  already  said ;  as,  "  He's  got 
a  scolding  wife,  and  an  ugly  one  at  that." 

"  Liquor  up,  gentlemen."  "We  bowed.  "  Let  me  introduce  you  to  some  of  the 
most  highly  esteemed  of  our  citizens."  We  bowed  again.  "  Now  then,  Mister," 
turning  to  the  man  at  the  bar,  "  drinks  round,  and  cobblers  at  that."  —  Notes  on  the 
N.  Western  States,  Blackwood,  Sept.,  1853. 

Atajo.     (Span.,  pron.  atdho.)     A  drove  of  pack-mules. 

Atamasco  Lilt.  (Amaryllis  atamasco.)  A  small  one-flowered  lily,  held 
in  like  esteem,  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  with  the  daisy  in  Eng- 
land. 

Atlantic  States.     States  bordering  on  the  Atlantic. 

Atole.'  In  the  Spanish  portions  of  North  America,  gruel,  generally  of 
corn-meal. 

Attitudinize.     To  assume  affected  attitudes.  —  Worcester. 

Aunty.     A  familiar  term,  often  used  in  accosting  an  elderly  woman. 

Authority.  In  Connecticut  the  justices  of  the  peace  are  denominated 
the  civil  authority.  —  Webster. 

Mr.  Pickering  says  :  "  This  word  is  also  used  in  some  of  the  States  in 
speaking  collectively  of  the  professors,  etc.,  of  our  colleges,  to  whom  the 
government  of  those  institutions  is  intrusted." 

The  authority  required  him  to  give  bonds  for  his  good  behavior.  —  Miss  H. 
Adams's  Hist,  of  New  England,  p.  64. 

Available.     That  may  be  used  with  success  or  advantage.  —  Worcester. 

For  some  months  past,  a  regular  system  of  crying  down  Mr.  Clay  as  unavailable, 
has  been  prosecuted  with  indefatigable  energy  and  adroitness  tlu-oughout  the  Union. 
Mr.  Clay  is  a  great  man  —  able  statesman — all  of  us  prefer  him  to  any- 
body else  if  he  could  be  elected,  hut  I'm  afraid  he  is  n't  available.  —  Letter  in  N.  Y. 
Tribune,  May,  1848. 

Availability.  Quality  of  being  available.  —  Worcester.  That  qualifica- 
tion in  a  candidate  which  implies  or  supposes  a  strong  probability  of  his 
success,  apart  from  substantial  merit,  —  a  probability  resulting  from  mere 


AVA  — AVE  15 

personal  or  accidental  popularity.  The  thing  has  long  existed  in  the 
papal  government,  where  the  advanced  age  of  a  candidate  for  the  triple 
crown  has  often  been  the  motive  of  his  election ;  the  idea  being  that  he 
would  soon  die  out  of  the  way,  and  leave  the  chair  vacant  for  a  new  trial 
of  strength  under  more  favorable  auspices,  perhaps,  for  some  of  the  elect- 
ing cardinals.  Inoffensiveness  —  exemption  from  strong  hostility  in  any 
quarter  —  is  a  frequent  element  of  availability.  —  J.  Inman. 

As  this  word  is  not  noticed  by  any  lexicographer  except  Dr.  Worcester, 
and  is  now  much  used,  it  is  thought  advisable  to  give  several  examples 
of  its  use. 

These  political  conventions  are  certainly  becoming  more  odious  and  objectionable 
from  year  to  year,  and  availability,  not  merit  or  qualifications,  is  the  only  requisite 
to  secure  a  nomination.  —  Baltimore  Cor.  of  the  N.  Y.  Herald,  May,  1848. 

The  .only  possible  motive  for  the  choice  of  Mr.  Cass,  that  we  can  imagine,  is  his 
presumed  availahility,  the  elements  of  this  being  his  known  predilection,  real  or 
assumed,  for  temtorial  acquisition  in  all  quarters,  by  warlike  means  as  well  as 
others,  and  his  avowed  devotion  to  the  Southern  or  slave-holding  interest.  —  N.  Y. 
Com.  Adv.,  May  26,  1848. 

The  whigs,  within  the  last  few  days,  have  presented  candidates  for  the  highest 
office  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  who  are  without  any  principles.  .  .  ,  What  do  they 
mean  by  this  in  thus  presenting  candidates  who  have  no  principles  1  They  proceed 
on  the  principle  of  mere  availahilitij,  and  nothing  else.  They  are  again  going  to  in- 
sult your  judgments,  and  tarnish  the  character  of  the  nation,  by  their  exhibitions  of 
coon-skins  and  hard  cidei',  and  their  midnight  debaucheries,  as  they  did  in  1840.  — 
Spttch  of  J.  Bowlin,  N.  Y.  Herald,  June  12,  1848, 

Availed.  Dr.  "Witherspoon  notices  this  word  as  used  in  the  following  ex- 
ample :  "  The  members  of  a  popular  government  should  be  continually 
availed  of  the  situation  and  condition  of  every  part."  —  Works,  Vol. 
IV.  p.  296. 

The  newspapers  sometimes  say,  "  an  offer  "  (for  instance)  "  was  made 
but  not  availed  of." 

Avails.  Profits,  or  proceeds.  It  is  used,  in  New  England,  for  the  pro- 
ceeds of  goods  sold,  or  for  rents,  issues,  or  profits.  —  Webster. 

Expecting  to  subsist  on  the  bounty  of  government,  rather  than  on  the  avails  of  their 
own  industry.  —  Stoddard's  Louisiana. 

It  is  used  in  other  parts  of  the  country  in  like  manner. 

Avalanche.  A  Texan  corruption  of  the  French  Ambulance.  A  spring 
waggon. 

Averse.  On  the  use  of  this  word,  Mr.  Pickering  has  the  following  re- 
marks :  "  American  writers,  tiU  within  some  years  past,  generally  em- 
ployed the  preposition  to  instead  of  from  with  this  adjective."  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon tliinks,  that  "  as  averse  properly  signifies  turned  away,  it  seems  an 
evident  improvement   to  say  averse  from ; "  and  the  Scottish  writers 


16  AVO— AXE 

generally  seem  to  have  preferred  this.  Dr.  Campbell,  however,  observes, 
that  "  the  words  averse  and  aversion  are  more  properly  construed  with  to, 
than  with  from.  The  examples  in  favor  of  the  latter  preposition  are, 
beyond  comparison,  outnumbered  by  those  in  favor  of  the  former.  The 
argument  from  etymology  is  here  of  no  value,  being  taken  from  the  use 
of  another  language.  If,  by  the  same  rule,  we  were  to  regulate  all  nouns 
and  verbs  of  Latin  original,  our  present  syntax  would  be  overturned." 
Dr.  "Webster  remarks  to  the  same  effect.  Mr.  Todd  says  many  examples 
may  be  brought  to  show  the  prevalent  use  of  the  word  from  in  con- 
nection with  averse,  before  Clarendon ;  but  now  the  usage  of  to  pre- 
vails. 

Avocado  Pear.     See  Alligator  Pear. 

Awful.  1.  Disagreeable,  detestable,  ugly.  A  word  much  used  among 
the  common  people  in  New  England,  and  not  unfrequently  among  those 
who  are  educated.  The  expression,  "an  awful-\o6kmg  woman,"  is  as 
often  heard  as  "  an  ugly  woman." 

The  country  people  of  the  New  England  States  make  use  of  many  quaint  expres- 
sions in  tlieir  conversation.  Every  thing  that  creates  surprise  is  aioful  with  them  : 
"  What  an  awful  wind  !  awful  hole  !  awful  hill !  awful  mouth  !  aivful  nose !  "  etc.  — 
Lambert's  Travels  in  Canada  and  the  United  States. 

The  practice  of  moving  on  the  first  day  of  May,  with  one  half  the  New-Yorkers, 
is  an  awful  custom.  —  Major  Downing,  May-Day  in  New  York. 

2.  Very  great,  excessive.  This  sense  of  the  word  is  peculiar  to  the 
West. 

Pot-pie  is  the  favorite  dish,  and  woodsmen,  sharp  set,  are  awful  eaters.  —  Carl- 
ton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  182. 

It  is  even  used  in  this  sense  adverbially,  and  with  still  greater  impro- 
priety, like  many  other  adjectives.  Thus  we  not  unfrequently  hear  such 
expressions  as  "  an  awful  cold  day." 

There  was  Old  Crane  pokin'  round  among  the  gals,  and  mighty  particular  to 
Kezier  Winkle.  Ain't  it  ridiculous  ?  I  don't  see  what  he  could  fancy  about  her. 
I  never  thought  she  was  so  awful  handsome  as  some  folks  does.  —  Widow  Bedott 
Papers. 

Awfully.     Exceedingly,  excessively. 

The  chimneys  were  aiofully  given  to  smoking.  —  Carlton,  New  Purchase. 

To  Axe.  (Ang.  Sax.  acsian,  axian.)  To  ask.  This  word  is  now  con- 
sidered a  vulgarism ;  though,  like  many  others  under  the  same  censure, 
it  is  as  old  as  the  English  language.  Among  the  early  writers  it  was 
used  with  the  same  frequency  as  ask  is  now.  In  England  it  still  exists 
in  the  colloquial  dialect  of  Norfolk  and  other  counties.     "A  truebom 


BAB  — BAG  17 

Londoner,"  says  Pegge,  "always  axes  questions,  axes  pardon,  and  at 
quadrilles,  axes  leave." 

And  Pilate  axide  him,  Art  thou  Kyng  of  Jewis  ?    And  Jhesus  answeride  and 
seide  to  him,  Thou  seist.  —  Widiff,  Trans,  of  the  Bible. 

A  poor  lazar,  upon  a  tide. 

Came  to  the  gate,  and  axed  meate.  —  Gower,  Con.  Anc. 

Margaret,  Countess  of  Richmond  and  Derby,  in  a  letter  to  her  son, 
Henry  VII.,  concludes  with  — 

As  lierty  blessings  as  yc  can  axe  of  God.  —  Lord  Howard. 

In  the  next  reign.  Dr.  John  Clarke  writes  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and 
tells  him  that  — 

The  King  axed  after  your  Grace's  welfare.  —  Pegge's  Anecdote. 
The  word  is  much  used  by  the  uneducated  in  the  United  States. 
Day  before  yesterday,  I  went  down  to  the  post-ofBce,  and  ax'd  the  postmaster  if 
there  was  any  tiling  for  me.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  172. 

I  have  often  axed  myself  what  sort  of  a  gall  that  splendiferous  Lady  of  the  Lake 
of  Scott's  was.  —  Sam  Slick  in  Eng.,  ch.  30. 


B. 

Babes.     The  name  of  a  set  of  Baltimore  rowdies. 

Back,  v.     To  back  a  letter,  is  Western  for  to  "  direct  "  it. 

Back  is  often  used  for  ago ;  as  iu  the  phrase,  " a  little  whUe  back"  i.  e. 
"  a  short  time  ago." 

Back  and  forth.  Backwards  and  forwards,  applied  to  a  person  in  walk- 
ing ;  as,  "  He  was  walking  back  and  forth"  A  common  expression  in  the 
familiar  language  of  New  England. 

Backbone.  Moral  stamina,  strength  of  will,  firmness  of  purpose.  A 
figurative  expression  recently  much  used  in  political  writings. 

Infirmity  of  purpose  is  the  cause  of  more  serious  lapses  of  infirmity  of  principle. 
Men  do  not  know  how  to  resist  the  small  temptations  of  life,  from  some  deficiency 
in  their  dorsal  aixangements  ;  and  the  natural  result  is  a  departure  from  the  right. 
Backbone  is  the  material  which  is  designed  to  make  an  upright  man  ;  and  he  must 
be  fiiTTx  on  all  points,  if  he  would  pass  scatheless  through  the  struggle  of  life.  — 
The  Republic,  1857. 

To  BACK  DOWN.  To  withdraw  a  charge,  eat  one's  own  words;  as,  "I 
asked  Jenkins,  before  witnesses,  if  he  had  called  me  a  cheat ;  and  he 
backed  right  down" 

Back-house.  A  necessary  house,  privy  ;  so  called  from  its  position.  In 
some  parts  of  England  it  is  called  the  Backwai-d.  Comp.  the  Lat.  posti- 
cum. 

2* 


18  BAG  — BAG 

To  BACK  OUT,  V.  To  retreat  from  a  difRcultj,  to  refuse  to  fulfil  a  promise 
or  engagement.  A  metaphor  borrowed  from  the  stables.  Equivalent 
expressions  are  to  back  water,  to  take  the  hack  track. 

Mr.  Bedinger,  in  his  remarks  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  tlie  Mexican 
war,  January  25,  1848,  said  :  "  He  regretted  the  bloodshed  in  Mexico,  and  wished 
it  would  stop.  But,  ho  asked,  would  gentlemen  be  willing  to  back  out,  and  forsake 
our  rights  ?     No,  no.     No  turning  back.     Tliis  great  country  must  go  ahead." 

The  whigs  undertook  to  cut  down  the  price  of  printing  to  a  fair  rate,  but  at  last 
hacked  out,  and  voted  to  pay  the  old  prices. — New  York  Tribune. 

To  all  appearance,  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a  bloody  contest,  if  not  a  revolution. 
Wliat  will  be  the  consequence  ?  One  or  the  other  party  must  back  out,  or  no  one 
can  tell  what  will  be  tlie  result.  —  National  Intelligencer. 

'T  would  save  some  whole  cartloads  of  fuss,  an'  three  or  four  months  o'  jaw. 

If  some  illustrious  patriot  should  back  out  and  withdraw. 

Bigelow  Papers,  p.  1^4. 
Back  out.     A  backing  out,  retreating. 

Well,  boys,  you  know  Hoss  Allen  —  no  back  out  in  him,  anyhow  ! — JIoss  Allen, 
of  Missouri. 

Back  track.  To  take  the  hack  track  is  to  retrace  one's  steps,  to  retreat ; 
and  hence  is  equivalent  to  to  back  out.     Western. 

To  BACK  WATER,  V.  To  retreat,  or  withdraw;  a  Western  metaphor, 
derived  from  steamboat  language.  / 

Backing  and  filling.  Advancing  and  retreating,  shilly-shally,  inde- 
cision.    A  nautical  metaphor,  used  also,  it  is  believed,  in  England. 

There  has  been  so  much  backing  a7id  filling  not  only  upon  the  Cuba  question,  but 
upon  every  other,  that  no  confidence  can  be  placed  in  the  declaration  wliich  either 
Gen.  Pierce  or  his  cabinet  may  make. — N.  Y.  Herald,  June  15,  1854. 

A  backin'  andfillin'  and  wi'igglin'  policy  will  never  fetch  any  thing  about.  — Maj. 
Downing. 

Backward.  Is  sometimes  used  in  the  West  for  bashful,  unwilling  to 
appear  in  company,  on  the  same  principle  as  "  forward  "  in  correct  lan- 
guage means  the  very  contrary. 

Backwoods.  The  partially  cleared  forest  region  on  the  western  frontier 
of  the  United  States,  called  also  the  hack  settlements.  This  part  of  the 
country  is  regarded  as  the  back  part  or  rear  of  Anglo-American  civiliza- 
tion, w^hich  fronts  on  the  Atlantic.  It  is  rather  curious  that  the  English 
word  hack  has  thus  acquired  the  meaning  of  western,  which  it  has  in 
several  Oriental  languages,  and  also  in  Irish. 

Backwoodsman.  In  the  United  States,  an  inhabitant  of  the  forest  on  the 
Western  frontier.  —  Webster. 

TIic  project  of  transmuting  the  classes  of  American  citizens  and  converting  sail- 
ors into  backwoodsmen  is  not  too  monstrous  for  speculators  to  conceive  and  desire. 
'—Fisher  Ames's  Wo)-ks,  p.  144. 


BAD  — BAL  19 

I  presume,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  it  is  your  curiosity  to  hear  the  plain,  unedu- 
cated backwoodsman  in  his  home  style.  —  Crockett's  Tour,  p.  126. 

Bad.  Badly;  greatly,  very  much.  Examples:  "That  bile  hurts  me 
bad."     "  I  want  to  see  him  bad." 

Bagasse.  (Fr.)  Stalks  of  sugar-cane,  from  which  the  juice  has  been 
expressed.  It  is  used  as  fuel  under  the  sugar-kettle.  Called  also  Cane- 
trash. 

Bagasse  Furnace.    A  furnace  arranged  to  burn  the  sugar-cane  stalks. 

Baggage.  Literally,  what  is  contained  in  a  bag  or  bags  ;  the  clothing  or 
other  conveniences  which  a  traveller  carries  with  him  on  a  journey.  The 
English  appear  to  have  discarded  the  word  altogether  for  the  less  ap- 
propriate term  luggage. 

Having  despatched  my  baggage  by  water  to  Altdorf.  —  Coxe. 
This  is  sometimes  called  more  fully  bag  and  baggage. 

Seventeen  members  of  Congress  arrived  to-day  with  their  bag  and  baggage.  — 
Washington  Paper. 

Baggage-Car.  The  car  on  a  railroad  in  which  the  baggage  is  stowed. 
It  is  placed  next  behind  the  tender. 

Baggage-Smasher.  A  man  who  transfers  baggage  to  and  from  railroad 
cars,  steamboats,  etc.  So  called  from  the  reckless  manner  in  which  these 
persons  handle  the  property  of  travellers. 

Bagging.     See  Cotton- Bagging. 

Bake-Oven.  This  term  is  often  used  in  the  "West  for  the  simple  word 
oven  in  a  bakery.     It  is  also  applied  to  the  iron  bake-pan. 

Balance.  A  mercantile  word  originally  introduced  into  the  ordinary  lan- 
guage of  life  by  the  Southern  people,  but  now  improperly  used  tlu-ough- 
out  the  United  States  to  signify  the  remainder  of  any  thing.  The  bal- 
ance of  money,  or  the  balance  of  an  account,  are  terms  well  authorized 
and  proper ;  but  we  also  frequently  hear  such  expressions  as  the  "  bal- 
ance of  a  speech ; "  "  the  balance  of  the  day  Avas  idly  spent ; "  "a  great 
many  people  assembled  at  the  church :  a  part  got  in,  the  balance  re- 
mained without." 

The  yawl  returned  to  the  wreck,  took  ten  or  eleven  persons  and  landed  them,  and 
then  went  and  got  the  balance  from  the  floating  cabin.  —  Albany  Journal,  January  7, 
1846. 

Most  of  the  respectable  inhabitants  held  commissions  in  the  army  or  government 
oflBces ;  the  balance  of  the  people  kept  little  shops,  cultivated  the  ground,  etc.  — 
Williams's  Florida,  p.  115. 

The  boats  of  the  South  Ferry  forced  their  way  through  the  ice,  and  kept  up  their 
communication  for  the  balance  of  the  day.  —  New  York  Tribune. 


20  BAL— BAN 

Bald  Face.  Common  (penny)  whiskey,  particularly  when  it  is  new ; 
also  figuratively  and  appropriately  called  Red  Eye. 

Ballot-box  Stuffing.  A  new  name  for  a  new  crime.  This  consists  in 
the  use  of  a  box  for  receiving  ballots  at  an  election,  so  constructed  with  a 
false  bottom  and  compartments  as  to  permit  the  introduction  of  spurious 
ballots  to  any  extent  by  the  party  having  it  in  charge.  In  California  the 
most  outrageous  frauds  have  been  committed  by  this  means. 

Ballthack  —  "  Go  to  Ballyhach  !  "  a  common  expression  in  New  England. 
I  know  not  its  origin.     It  savors  in  sound,  however,  of  the  Emerald  Isle. 

"You  and  Obed  are  here  too." 

"Let  Obed  go  to  Ballyhach.     Come  along  out."  — Margaret,  p.  55. 

Balm  of  Gilead.  (Populus  caudicans.)  A  tree,  which  extends  from 
New  England  to  "Wisconsin  and  Kentucky.  It  is  rare  in  a  wild  state, 
but  common  in  cultivation.  —  Gray. 

Balsam  Fir.  (Abies  halsamea.)  A  slender  tree  growing  in  cold,  damp 
woods  and  swamps,  from  New  England  to  Pennsylvania  and  north- 
wards. The  blisters  under  the  bark  furnish  the  well-known  "  Canada 
Balsam  ; "  hence  its  name.  It  is  also  called  Canada  Balsam  and  Gilead 
Fu-. 

Balsam  Poplar.  (Populus  balsamifera.)  A  tall  tree  growing  from 
New  England  to  Wisconsin  and  northwards.  Its  large  buds  are  var- 
nished with  a  fragrant,  resinous  matter.  —  Gray. 

Banana.  The  fruit  of  the  Musa  sapientium,  a  well-known  tropical  fruit, 
imported  into  the  United  States  from  the  "West  Indies. 

Band.     A  troop  or  herd  of  bisons  is  called,  in  prairie  parlance,  "  a  hand 

of  buffalo." 
Banded  Drum.     See  Grunter. 
Bango  !     A  common  exclamation  among  the   negroes  both   North   and 

South. 
Banjo.     A  rude  sort  of  guitar,  a  favorite  instrument  with  the  negroes. 

The  term  itself  is  probably  of  negro  origin. 

How  oft  when  a  boy,  with  childish  joy, 

I  've  roain'd  at  the  close  of  day, 
When  our  work  was  done,  to  have  some  fun, 
And  hear  the  hanjo  play.  —  Negro  Melody. 
Olo  Nashville  dey  say  is  a  very  nice  town, 
Dar  de  niggers  pick  do  cotton  till  do  sun  goes  do\vn  ; 
Dey  dance  all  night  to  do  ole  hanjo, 
Wid  a  corn-stalk  fiddle  and  a  shoe-string  bow.  —  Negro  Melodies. 

Bankable.  Receivable  at  a  bank,  as  bills ;  or  discountable,  as  notes.  — 
Webster. 


BAN  — BAR  21 

Among  the  great  variety  of  bank-notes  whiclv  constitute  our  circulating 
medium,  many  are  below  par,  and  consequently  are  not  received  at  the 
banks.  Those  only  which  are  redeemed  with  specie  or  its  equivalent 
are  received  at  the  banks,  and  are  of  the  class  called  hanhahle. 

Baxk  Bill.  A  promissory  note  issued  by  a  banking  company.  This  is 
the  term  generally  used  in  the  United  States ;  while  in  England  hank 
note  is  as  regularly  employed. 

Banker.  A  vessel  employed  in  fishing  on  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland. 
"  There  were  employed  in  the  fisheries  1,232  vessels,  namely,  584  to  the 
Banks,  648  to  the  Bay  and  Labrador ;  the  hankers  may  be  put  down  at 
36,540  tons." 

The  vessels  that  fish  at  the  Labrador  and  Bay  arc  not  so  valuable  as  the  bankers, 
mofe  particulai-ly  those  from  Maine,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island.  —  J.  Q.  Adams 
on  the  Fisheries,  p.  219. 

Bannock.  (Gaelic,  honnach.  Irish,  hoinneag.)  In  Scotland,  a  cake  of 
oatmeal,  baked  on  an  iron  plate. 

Behind  the  door  a  bag  of  meal ; 

And  in  the  kist  was  plenty 

Of  good  hard  cakes  his  mither  bakes ; 

And  bannocks  were  nae  scanty.  —  Scotch  Songs,  II.  71. 

In  New  England,  cakes  of  Indian  meal,  fried  in  lard,  are  called  han- 
nocks. 
Banquette.     The  name  for  the  side-waUc  in  some  of  our  Southern  cities. 

To  Banter.  To  challenge,  defy ;  namely,  to  a  race,  a  shooting-match,  etc. 
Southern  and  Western. 

Banter.  A  challenge.  Southern  and  Western.  "  There  will  be  a  hanter 
on  the  bare  ground,"  meaning  a  shooting-match. 

Bar,  for  bear.  The  common  pronunciation  in  certain  parts  of  the  South- 
ern and  Western  States. 
Barbecue.  A  term  used  in  the  Southern  States  and  in  the  West  Indies 
for  dressing  a  hog  whole  ;  which,  being  split  to  the  backbone,  is  laid  flat 
upon  a  large  gridiron,  and  roasted  over  a  charcoal  fire.  —  Johnson. 
Wehster. 

A  writer  in  the  Westminster  Review  supposes  the  word  to  be  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  French  harhe-a-queue,  i.  e.  from  snout  to  tail ;  comp.  cap- 
a-pie,  from  head  to  foot. 

Oldfield,  with  more  than  harpy  throat  endued, 

Cries,  "Lend  me,  gods,  a  whole  hog  barbecued."  —  Pope. 

Now  the  festive  board  with  viands  is  stored. 

Savory  dishes  be  there,  I  ween ; 
Kich  puddings  and  big,  and  a  barbecued  pig, 
And  ox-tail  soup  in  a  China  tureen.  —  Ingdd^y  Legends. 


22  BAR  — BAR 

This  word  is  now  much  used  in  the  South  and  West  for  a  public 
meeting  in  the  open  air  with  a  dinner  or  other  refreshments. 

A  genuine  Virginia  barbecue,  whether  of  a  social  or  a  pohtical  character,  is  a  rural 
entertainment  which  deserves  more  praise  than  censure;  and  we  know  of  none  which 
affords  the  stranger  a  better  opportunity  of  studying  the  character  of  the  yeomanry 
of  the  Southern  States. — Lanman's  Adventures,  Vol.  II.  p.  259. 

To  Barberize.  a  term  among  country  hairdressers.  "  I  can  shoemake 
through  the  week,  and  barberize  on  public  days ; "  that  is,  on  days  of 
public  business,  which  call  farmers  to  the  country  town.  To  barber  is  so 
used  in  old  writers. 

Barge.  A  vessel  of  burden,  employed  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tribu- 
taries before  the  introduction  of  steamboats.  It  is  thus  described  by 
Flint :  "  The  barge  is  of  the  size  of  an  Atlantic  schooner.  It  had  sails, 
masts,  and  rigging,  not  unlike  a  sea  vessel,  and  carried  from  fifty  to  an 
hundred  tons.  On  the  lower  courses  of  the  Mississippi,  when  the  wind 
did  not  serve  and  the  waters  were  high,  it  was  worked  up  stream  by  the 
operation  that  is  called  '  warping '  —  a  most  laborious,  slow,  and  difficult 
mode  of  ascent,  in  which  six  or  eight  miles  a  day  was  good  progress."  — 
Hist,  and  Geogr.  of  Miss.  Valley. 

Thirty  years  ago  safety  barges  were  introduced  upon  the  Hudson,  soon 
after  several  serious  disasters  by  the  explosion  of  boilers  —  these  were 
large  and  comfortable  vessels,  solely  for  the  accommodation  of  passengers, 
and  were  towed  by  a  steamboat.  Making  their  trips  but  slowly,  they 
soon  went  out  of  fashion  —  and  the  word  barge  was  then  aj)plied  to 
freight  vessels  towed  by  steamboats  —  of  these,  however,  several  were 
towed  by  one  boat. 

To  BARK  A  Tree.  To  make  a  circular  incision  through  the  bai-k  so  as 
to  kill  the  tree.     See  Girdle. 

To  BARK  OFF  SQUIRRELS.  A  common  way  of  killing  squirrels  among 
those  who  are  expert  with  the  rifle,  in  the  Western  States,  is  to  strike 
with  the  ball  the  bark  of  the  tree  immediately  beneath  the  squirrel ;  the 
concussion  produced  by  which  kills  the  animal  instantly  without  mutilat- 
ing it.  —  Audubon,  Ornithology,  Vol.  I.  p.  294. 

To  BARK  UP  THE  "WRONG  Tree.  A  common  expression  at  the  West, 
denoting  that  a  person  has  mistaken  his  object,  or  is  pursuing  the  wrong 
course  to  obtain  it.  In  hunting,  a  dog  drives  a  squirrel  or  other  game 
into  a  tree,  where,  by  a  constant  barking,  he  attracts  its  attention  imtil 
the  hunter  arrives.  Sometimes  the  game  escapes,  or  the  dog  is  deceived, 
and  barks  up  the  wrong  tree. 

K  you  think  to  run  a  rig  on  me,  you  have  made  a  mistake  in  the  child,  and 
harked  up  the  wrong  tree.  — S.  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  124. 


BAE— BAR  23 

When  people  try  to  hunt  [office]  for  themselves, and  seem  to  he  harking 

up  the  wrong  sapling,  I  want  to  put  them  on  the  right  trail.  —  Crockett's  Tour,  p. 
205. 

Barm.  (Aug.  Sax.  beorm.)  Yeast.  This  old  English  word  is  preserved 
in  New  England. 

Barnburners.  A  nickname  given  in  the  State  of  New  York  to  the  more 
radical  and  progressive  section  of  the  Democratic  party,  otherwise  called 
the  Young  Democracy,  as  opposed  to  the  conservative  tendencies  of  old 
Hmikerism.     See  Hunker. 

This  school  of  Democrats  was  termed  Barnburners,  in  allusion  to  the  story  of  an 
old  Dutchman,  who  rcUeved  himself  of  rats  hy  burning  down  his  barns  which 
they  infested,  — just  like  exterminating  all  banks  and  corporations,  to  root  out  the 
abuses  connected  therewith. — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Barrach.  a  straw-thatched  roof  supported  by  four  posts,  capable 
of  being  raised  or  lowered  at  pleasure,  under  which  hay  is  kept.  Also 
called,  in  New  York,  Jiay-harrach,  probably  from  the  Dutch. 

Barraclade.  (Dutch,  harre  Hedeeren,  cloths  undressed  or  without  a 
nap.)  A  home-made  woollen  blanket  without  nap.  This  word  is 
peculiar  to  New  York  city,  and  those  parts  of  the  State  settled  by  the 
Dutch. 

Barranca.  (Span.)  A  deep  break  or  ravine,  caused  by  heavy  rains  or 
a  watercourse.  The  banks  of  such  are  always  steep  and  abrupt,  like  a 
wall,  owing  to  the  tenacity  of  the  soU,  and  the  suddenness  with  which 
they  are  made.  A  sloping  bank  by  a  river's  side,  or  a  similarly  formed 
ravine,  is  not  a  barranca.  These  perpendicular  walls  of  earth  are  found 
in  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  and  are  a  marked  feature  in  their  topogra- 
phy. The  Barrancas  which  bound  on  one  side  the  battle-field  of  Buena 
Vista  are  very  remarkable. 

Barrens.  Elevated  lands  or  plains  upon  which  grow  small  trees,  but 
never  timber.  They  are  classed  as  Pine-barrens,  Oak-barrens,  etc.,  ac- 
cording to  the  kind  of  tree  which  prevails  upon  them.  In  Kentucky, 
the  term  is  applied  to  certain  regions  in  the  carboniferous  limestone  for- 
mation, the  soil  of  which  is  really  very  fertile.  Hence  Barren  county 
and  Barren  river.  In  these  places  the  water  flows  in  subterranean  chan- 
nels ;  and  hence  a  dryness  of  the  surface,  which,  according  to  some,  has 
permitted  annual  fires  to  sweep  off  the  timber,  while,  according  to  others, 
it  has  not  permitted  its  growth. 

Barren  ground  Reindeer.  (Tarandus  arcticus,  Rich.)  A  species 
of  Caribou  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  "  Barren  Grounds,"  the  north- 
eastern comer  of  North  America.  It  occurs  also  in  Greenland.  —  S.  F. 
Baird. 


24  BAS  —  BAY 

Base.  A  game  of  ball  much  played  in  America,  so  called  from  the  three 
bases  or  stations  used  in  it.  That  the  game  and  its  name  are  both  Eng- 
lish is  evident  from  the  following  article  in  Halliwell's  Dictionary  of 
Archaic  and  Provincial  Words  :  "  Base-hall.  A  country  game  mentioned 
in  Moor's  Suffolk  Words,  p.  238." 

Basket  Meeting.  In  the  West  a  sort  of  pic-nic,  generally  with  some 
religious  "  exercises." 

Bass.  A  name  applied  to  several  species  of  excellent  sea  and  lake  fish. 
See  Black  Bass,  Sea  Bass,  Striped  Bass. 

Basswood.  (Tilia  americana.)  A  tree  resembling  the  European  lime 
or  linden  ;  from  the  use  of  its  inner  bark  for  making  mats  or  cordage, 
the  tree  is  also  called  hast  or  bass.  The  name,  however,  is  now  obsolete 
in  England.     In  the  United  States  it  is  also  called  White-wood. 

From  the  idea  of  pliability  (both  in  the  bark  and  wood),  the  name 
of  the  tree  is  made  a  reproach  in  the  following  extract  from  one 
of  Brigham  Young's  "  sermons  !  " 

I  say,  as  the  Lord  lives,  we  arc  bound  to  become  a  sovereign  State  in  the  Union, 
or  an  independent  nation  by  ourselves  ;  and  let  them  drive  us  from  this  place  if  they 
can,  —  they  cannot  do  it.  I  do  not  throw  this  out  as  a  banter.  You  Gentiles  and 
hickory  and  basswood  Mormons  can  write  it  down,  if  you  please  ;  but  write  it  as  I 
speak  it. 

To  Bat.     To  hat  the  eyes,  in  Southern  parlance,  is  to  wink. 

Battery.  A  sort  of  boat  used  for  duck-shooting  in  the  Chesapeake,  in 
which  the  shooter  lies  below  the  surface  of  the  water.  It  is  also  called, 
among  other  local  names,  a  Surface-boat,  Coffin-boat,  Sink,  or  Box. — 
Lewis,  American  Sportsman. 

Bay.  1.  An  arm  of  a  prau-ie  extending  into,  and  partly  surrounded  by, 
woods. 

2.  A  piece  of  low,  marshy  ground,  producing  large  numbers  of  Bay- 
trees.     North  Carolina. 

Bayberry.  {JShjrica  cerifera^  A  shrub,  with  fragrant  leaves,  having  an 
odor  resemblmg  that  of  the  bay.  The  berries,  when  boiled  in  water, 
yield  a  fragrant  green  wax,  known  as  "  bayberry  tallow,"  used  for  mak- 
ing candles,  etc. 

Bay  Rum.  A  liquor  obtained  by  distilling  the  leaves  of  the  bay-tree.  It 
is  chiefly  used  for  the  purposes  of  the  toilet. 

Bay  Laurel.     See  Bay-tree. 

Bay  State.  The  State  of  Massachusetts.  The  original  name  of  the 
colony  was  Massachusetts  Bay.  Hence  among  the  New  England  peo- 
ple it  was  usually  called  the  Bay  State. 


BAY  — BEA  25 

Bayou.  (Fr.  hoyau,  a  gut.)  In  Louisiana,  the  outlet  of  a  lake ;  a  chan- 
nel foi'  water. 

Beach-combers.     The  long  waves  rolling  in  from  the  ocean. 

Beaker.  A  large  drinking-glass,  a  tumbler.  The  word  is  used  in  the 
north  of  England  and  in  Scotland,  and  by  old  persons  in  New  England. 
In  what  may  be  called  bacchanalian  poetry,  it  is  still  used  by  us  precisely 
as  it  was  in  England  centuries  ago. 

Fill  him  his  beaker,  he  will  never  flinch 
To  give  a  full  quart  pot  the  empty  pinch. 

Rowland's  Humors  Ordinarie. 

Then  fill  up  your  beaker  !    A  bumper  I  claim 
Eor  the  toast  that  each  heart  will  respond  to. 
Rough  and  Ready  Songs. 

Every  one  is  familiar  with  the  chorus  in  the  beautiful  song  of  C  F. 
Hoffman,  entitled  "  Sparkling  and  Bright." 

Then  fill  to-night  with  hearts  as  light. 

To  loves  as  gay  and  fleeting 
As  bubbles  that  swim  on  the  beaker's  brim, 

And  break  on  the  lips  while  meeting. 

Bear.  A  word  to  denote  a  certain  description  of  stockjobbers.  —  John- 
son. 

The  same  term  is  used  among  the  brokers  and  stockjobbers  of  Wall 
street.  New  York.  Their  plans  of  operation  are  as  accurately  described 
in  the  annexed  extract  from  "Warton  as  they  can  be  at  the  present 
moment : 

He  who  sells  that  of  which  he  is  not  possessed  is  proverbially  said  to 
sell  the  skin  before  he  has  caught  the  bear.  It  was  the  practice  of  stock- 
jobbers, in  the  year  1720,  to  enter  into  a  contract  for  transferring  South 
Sea  stock  at  a  future  time  for  a  certain  price ;  but  he  who  contracted  tO' 
sell  had  frequently  no  stock  to  transfer,  nor  did  he  who  bought  intend  to 
receive  any  in  consequence  of  his  bargain;  the  seller  was  therefore 
called  a  hear,  in  allusion  to  the  proverb,  and  the  buyer  a  hull,  perhaps 
only  as  a  similar  distinction.  The  contract  was  merely  a  wager,  to  be 
determined  by  the  rise  or  fall  of  stock ;  if  it  rose,  the  seller  paid  the  dif- 
ference to  the  buyer,  proportioned  to  the  sum  determined  by  the  same- 
computation  to  the  seller.  —  Dr.  Warton  on  Pope. 

There  has  been  a  very  important  revolution  made  in  the  tactics  of  a  certain  exten- 
sive operator  in  Wall  street.  The  largest  bull  in  the  street  has  become  a  bear,  and 
tlie  rank  and  file  have  been  thrown  into  the  greatest  confusion  and  left  without  a 
leader.  —  New  York  Herald. 

Bear-Berrt.     See  Kinnikinick. 

3 


26  BEA  — BEA 

Bear-Grass.  {Yucca  Jllamentosa.)  Sometimes  called  Silk  Grass,  from 
the  fibres  wliich  appear  on  the  edges  of  the  leaves.     It  is  not  a  grass. 

To  BEAR  A  HAND.  A  seaman's  phrase.  To  go  to  work ;  to  assist ;  to 
make  haste. 

Bear  State.  A  name  by  which  the  State  of  Arkansas  is  known  at  the 
West.  I  once  asked  a  Western  man  if  Arkansas  abounded  in  bears, 
that  it  should  be  designated  as  the  "  Bear  State  ?  "  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  it 
does  ;  for  I  never  knew  a  man  from  that  State  but  he  was  a  bar,  and  in 
fact  the  people  are  all  barish  to  a  degree." 

Bear- Wallow.     See  Uog-Wallow. 

Beast.  A  common  name  for  a  horse  in  the  Southern  and  Western  States. 
It  is  quite  common  to  see  in  villages  the  invitation  to  travellers,  "  Enter- 
tainment for  man  and  beast ; "  and  in  the  Bible  we  read,  "  A  certain 
Samaritan  ...  set  him  on  his  own  beast." 

To  Beat.  1.  To  excel,  surpass  in  a  contest.  Thus  we  say,  one  racer  or 
steamer  beats  another.  So  too,  "It  beats  all  creation,"  i.  e.  surpasses 
every  thing. 

The  widow  Bedott  is  the  brazen-facedest  critter  t'ever  lived, — it  does  beat  all. 
I  never  see  her  equal.  —  Bedott  Papers,  p.  77. 

2.  To  overcome  with  astonishment,  to  amaze,  astound.  We  sometimes 
hear,  especially  from  the  mouths  of  old  people,  such  expressions  as,  "  I 
felt  beat"  "I  was  quite  beat"  i.  e.  utterly  astonished. 

Beat,  n.    One  who  excels  or  surpasses  another,  a  superior. 

Sam  Slick  was  a  queer  chap.    I  never  see  the  beat  of  him.  —  Yankee  Hill's  Sto- 
ries. 

Beat  out.     Tired  or  fagged  out. 

Beau.  This  word,  nearly  obsolete  in  England,  is  in  common  use  with  us 
to  mean  a  lover,  sweetheart. 

To  Beau.    To  act  in  the  capacity  of  a  gallant  or  beau. 

Well,  I  got  to  beauin'  Miss  Patience  about  a  spell ;  and  kept  my  eye  on  Nance,  to 
see  how  the  cat  was  j'umpin'.  —  Yankee  HiU's  Stories. 

Beautiful.  Excellent,  applied  to  articles  of  food ;  as,  "  beautiful  butter," 
"  beautiful  rolls."  This  absurd  use  of  the  term  is  by  no  means  confined 
to  the  illiterate.  The  word  elegant  is  less  frequently  abused  in  the  same 
manner. 

Beaver.  (  Castor  americanus.)  This  well-known  animal,  of  which  natu- 
ralists enumerate  several  varieties,  is  said  to  extend  over  the  North 
American  continent  from  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Llississippi  to 


BEA  — BEG  27 

about  68°  north  latitude,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  with  the 
exception  of  the  barren  districts. 

Beaver-dam.     The  obstruction  placed  across  a  stream  by  beavers. 

Beaver-tree.  (^Magnolia  glauca.)  Called  also  Beaver-wood,  and  some- 
times Castor-wood,  probably  from  the  preference  shown  by  the  beavers 
for  the  bai-k  as  food,  or  for  the  wood  as  useful  in  their  structures. 

Bed -Spread.  In  the  interior  parts  of  the  country,  the  common  name  for 
a  bed-quilt,  or  coverlet.     See  Spread. 

Bee.  An  assemblage  of  people,  generally  neighbors,  to  unite  their  labors 
for  the  benefit  of  an  individual  or  family.  The  quilting-bees  in  the  inte- 
rior of  New  England  and  New  York  are  attended  by  young  women, 
who  assemble  around  the  frame  of  a  bed-quilt,  and  in  one  afternoon  ac- 
complish more  than  one  person  could  m.  weeks.  Refreshments  and  beaux 
help  to  render  the  meeting  agreeable.  Apple-bees  are  occasions  when  the 
neighbors  assemble  to  gather  apples  or  to  cut  them  up  for  drying.  Husk- 
ing-bees,  for  husking  corn,  are  held  in  bams,  which  are  made  the  occa- 
sion of  much  frolicking.  In  new  countries,  when  a  settler  arrives,  the 
neighboring  farmers  unite  with  their  teams,  cut  the  timber,  and  build  him 
a  log-house  in  a  single  day ;  these  are  termed  raising-bees. 

Bee-gum.  In  the  South  and  West,  a  term  originally  applied  to  a  species 
of  the  gum-tree  from  which  beehives  were  made ;  and  now  to  beehives 
made  of  any  kind  of  boards.     See  Gum. 

Bee-line.  Bees,  after  having  loaded  themselves  with  honey,  always  fly 
back  to  the  hive  in  a  du-ect  line.  Hence,  a  bee-line  is  the  straightest 
course  from  one  point  to  another.     It  is  sometimes  called  an  air-line. 

This  road  is  one  of  nature's  laying.  It  goes  determinedly  straight  up  and  straight 
down  the  hills,  and  in  a  bee-line,  as  we  say. — Airs.  Clovers. 

The  sweetened  whiskey  I  had  drank  made  me  so  powerful  thick-legged,  that  when 
I  started  to  walk,  my  track  wam't  any  tiling  like  a  bee-line.  —  The  Americans  at 
Home,  Vol.  I. 

We  moved  on  like  men  in  a  dream.  Our  foot-marks,  seen  afterwards,  showed 
that  wc  had  steered  a  bee-line  for  the  brig.  —  Kane,  Arctic  Explorations,  Vol.  I.  p. 
198. 

Sinners,  you  are  making  a  bee-line  from  time  to  eternity;  and  what  you  have 
once  passed  over  you  will  never  pass  again.  — Daw's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  215. 

Bee-tree.  In  the  South  and  West  a  tree,  often  found  hollow,  in  which 
the  Avild  honey-bee  makes  its  hive  or  nest.     See  Gum-tree. 

Beggar-ticks.  A  species  of  Bidens  whose  seeds  (fruit)  adhere  to  the 
clothes.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  a  species  of  Desmodium  whose  pods 
break  at  the  joints ;  the  latter  is  sometimes  called  Beggar-Lice. 


28  BEE  — BEL 

Beech-drops.     A  term  applied  to  various  plants  without  green  foliage, 
parasitic  on  the  roots  of  the  beech. 

Beef.     In  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  some  other  parts  of  the  South-west,  an 
ox  is  called  a  beef,  and  oxen,  beeves. 

Beef-dodger.     Meat  biscuit.     Comp.  Corn-dodger. 

It  is  a  small  party,  but  great  in  the  requisite  qualifications,  and  goes  unincum- 
bered with  superfluities  :  no  wheels,  two  or  thi'cc  mules  apiece,  and  pinole,  pemmi- 
can,  and  beef-dodgers  for  their  principal  support.  —  Speech  of  Col.  Benton,  May  7, 
1853. 

Being.     Pres.  part,  of  the  verb  to  be,  equivalent  to  because. 

This  word  is  noticed  by  Boucher,  as  much  in  use  in  the  JVIiddle  States 
of  America,  and  as  an  idiom-  of  the  Western  counties  of  England.  It  ia 
also  heard  among  the  illiterate  in  New  England. 

I  sent  you  no  more  peasen,  been  the  rest  would  not  have  suited  you.  —  Boucher's 
Glossary. 

And  beinge  that  a  barrell  of  furs  was  lost  in  the  shippe,  the  collonie  hath  taken 
order  for  the  recruitinge  of  that  loss.  — Rhode  Island  Records,  1G58. 

The  charge  of  the  matter  shall  be  borne  by  the  towne  of  Warwick,  beinge  they 
have  been  at  some  charges  already.  —  Ibid.,  1659. 

"  Got  a  prime  nigger,"  said  the  slave-trader ;  "  an  A  number  one  cook,  and  no 
mistake !  Picked  her  up  real  cheap,  and  I  '11  let  you  have  her  for  eight  hundred 
dollars,  being  as  your'c  a  minister."  —  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  313. 

The  mug  cost  fifteen  pence  when  't  was  new ;  but  bein'  it  had  an  old  crack  in  it,  I 
told  her  she  needn't  pay  but  a  shilling  for  it.  — Maj.  Downing. 

Bein'  ye '11  help  Obcd,  I'll  give  ye  the  honey.  —  Margaret,  p.  20. 

Beliked.     Liked,  beloved.     A  Western  term. 

I  do  beUeve  me  and  Nancy  was  beliked  by  the  Indians ;  and  many 's  the  venison 
and  turkey  they  fotch'd  us  as  a  sort  of  present,  and  may  be  a  kind  of  pay  for  bread- 
stuffs  and  salt  Nancy  used  to  give  them.  —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase. 

This  gentleman  is  generally  beliked  by  his  fellow-citizens.  —  Baltimore  Cor.  of  the 
N.  Y.  Herald. 

Belittle.     To  make  smaller,  to  lower  in  character.  —  Webster. 

Mr.  Pickering  says  :  A  well  known  English  Review,  in  enumerating 
the  faults  of  our  writers,  thus  mentions  this,  among  other  words : 
"  President  Jefferson  talks  of  belittling  the  productions  of  nature."  — 
Quart.  Rev.,  X.  528. 

"We  fear  men's  minds  grow  really  belittled,  where  they  ought  to  be  enlarged.  — 
Brook  Eastford,  p.  124. 

Mr.  Goodrich,  in  his  "  Reminiscences,"  says,  when  he  returned  to  his 
native  place,  after  many  years'  absence  in  Europe  : 

Every  thing  looked  belittled,  degenerated  in  dimensions.  The  church  seemed  small, 
the  galleries  low,  the  pulpit  mean.  —  Vol.  I.  p.  309. 


BEL  — BEN  29 

"I  -won't  stand  that,"  said  Mr.  Slick,  "I  won't  stay  here  and  see  you  belittle 
Uncle  Sam  for  notliin'.  He  ain't  worse  than  John  Bull,  arter  all."  —  Sam  Slick  in 
England,  ch.  19. 

An  article  in  the  New  York  Times,  relative  to  Congressional  corrup- 
tion's being  made  the  subject  of  discussion  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
.tives,  says : 

Upon  a  motion  being  made  for  a  committee  of  investigation,  the  usual  efforts 
were  made  to  belittle  the  press,  and  treat  its  censures  with  contempt.  —  New  York 
Times,  Jan.  10,  1857.         # 

Bellows  Fish.     See  Sea-Devil. 

Belongings.  In  the  "  Washington  Union  "  is  an  advertisement  headed 
"  Gentlemen's  belongings  ;  "  from  which  it  appears  that  this  term  means 
the  under  garments  of  gentlemen,  such  as  shirts,  drawers,  stock- 
ings, etc. 

Belly-guts.  More  commonly  Belly  cutter  or  gutter.  1.  A  term  ap- 
plied by  boys  to  the  manner  of  sliding  down  hill  on  their  sleds,  when 
lying  on  their  bellies. 

2.  In  Pennsylvania,  molasses  candy  is  so  called. 

Bellwort.     The  popular  name  of  plants  of  the  genus  Uvularia. 

Bender.  In  New  York,  a  spree,  a  frolic.  To  " go  on  a  lender"  is  to 
go  on  a  spree. 

The  friends  of  the  new  married  couple  did  nothing  for  a  whole  month  but  smoke 
and  drink  metheglin  during  the  bender  they  called  the  honeymoon.  —  Sam  Slick, 
Human  Nature,  p.  276. 

A  couple  of  students  of  Williams  College  went  over  to  North  Adams  on  a  bender. 
This  would  have  been  a  serious  matter  under  the  best  of  circumstances,  but  each 
returned  with  "  a  brick  in  his  hat,"  etc.  —  Newspaper,  April,  1857. 

I  met  her  at  the  Chinese  room ; 

She  wore  a  wreath  of  roses. 
She  walked  in  beauty  like  the  night. 

Her  breath  was  like  sweet  posies. 
I  led  her  through  the  festal  hall. 

Her  glance  was  soft  and  tender ; 
She  wliispered  gently  in  my  ear, 

"  Say,  Mose,  ain't  this  a  bender  ?  " 

Putnam's  Monthly,  Aug.,  1854. 

Bench.  Besides  the  usual  English  acceptation  of  this  word,  it  is  applied 
to  a  long  seat  without  a  back,  such  as  is  used  in  schools,  and  which  in 
England  is  called  2^  form. 

Bench  and  Bench  mark.     In   civil   engineering — a  permanent,  level 
mark  on  a  rock,  or  the  root  or  stump  of  a  tree,  upon  which  a  leveUing- 
*     staff  can  be  placed. 

3* 


30  BER  — BET 

Bermudian  Vine.     See  Chicken  Grape. 

Bestowment.     1.  The  act  of  giving  gratuitously;  a  conferring.  —  Webster, 

This  word,  which  is  much  used  by  our  theological  writers,  is  not  in  the 

English  dictionaries. 

God  the  Father  had  committed  the  bestowment  of  the  blessings  purchased  to  his 
Son.  — Edwards  on  Redemption. 
If  we  consider  the  bestowment  of  gifts  in  this  view.  —  Chauncey,  U.  Lab. 

2.  That  which  is  conferred  or  given.  —  Webster. 
They  strengthened  his  hands  by  their  Hberal  bestowments  on  him  and  his  family.— 
Christian  Magazine,  III.  G65. 
The  free  and  munificent  bestowment  of  the  Sovereign  Judge.  —  Theodey. 

Mr.  Todd  has  bestowal  in  his  edition  of  Johnson,  but  cites  no  authority 
for  its  use.  Dr.  Webster  thinks  bestowment  preferable  on  account  of  the 
concurrence  of  the  two  vowels  in  bestowal. 

Better,  for  more  ;  as,  "  It  is  better  than  a  year  since  we  met."  This  use 
of  the  word  is  provincial  in  England. 

Betterments.  (Generally  used  in  the  plural  number.)  The  improve- 
ments made  on  new  lands,  by  cultivation  and  the  erection  of  buildings.  — 
Pickering's  Vocabulary. 

"  This  word,"  adds  Mr.  'Pickering,  "  was  first  used  in  the  State  of  Ver- 
mont^ but  it  has  for  a  long  time  been  common  in  the  State  of  New  Hamp- 
shire ;  and  it  has  been  getting  into  use  in  some  parts  of  Massachusetts, 
since  the  passing  of  the  late  law,  similar  to  the  Betterment  Acts  (as  they 
are  called)  of  the  States  above  mentioned.  It  is  not  to  be  found  in  Mr. 
Webstei-'s  nor  in  any  of  the  English  dictionaries  that  I  have  seen,  except 
Ash's ;  and  there  it  is  called  '  a  bad  word.'  It  is  thus  noticed  by  an  Eng- 
lish traveller  in  this  country,  in  speaking  of  those  people  who  enter  upon 
new  lands  without  any  right,  and  proceed  to  cultivate  them  : 

These  men  demand  either  to  be  left  owners  of  the  soil  or  paid  for  their  betterments  ; 
that  is,  for  wliat  they  have  done  towards  clearing  the  ground.  —  Kendall,  Travels  in 
the  United  States,  Vol.  III.  p.  160." 

Bettermost.  The  best.  The  word,  which  is  provincial  in  England,  is 
used  in  New  England. 

The  bettermost  cow,  an  expression  we  do  not  find  in  Shakspeare  or  JVIilton.  —  Mrs. 
Kirkland. 

Sometimes  is  heard  the  expression  bettermost  best ;  as,  "  These  girls  are 
dressed  in  their  bettermost  best." 

Betty.  (Ital.  boccetta.)  A  pear-shaped  bottle  wound  around  with  straw, 
in  which  olive  oil  is  brought  from  Italy.  Called  by  chemists  a  "  Florence 
flask." 

Between  hay  and  grass.     Between  boyhood  and  manhood. 


BHO  — BIG  31 

B'hots.  i.  e.  Boys,  a  name  applied  to  a  class  of  noisy  young  men  of  the 
lower  ranks  of  society  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

The  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser,  April  12,  1847,  in  speaking 
of  the  approaching  election,  uses  the  following  language  :  — 

All  the  b'hoys  will  vote,  aye,  more  than  all.  Let  every  Whig  do  his  duty.  Ano- 
ther year  with  a  democratic  mayor  —  and  such  a  mayor  as  the  b'hoys  would  force 
upon  the  city  !     Who  can  tell  what  the  taxes  will  be  ? 

Then  come  every  friend  of  the  Union, 

Come  old  men,  and  come  ye  b'hoys  ; 

Let 's  go  it  for  old  Rough  and  Ready, 

Wlio  never  was  scared  at  a  noise  !  — Political  Song. 

Bible  Chkistians.  The  Philadelphia  Mercury  thus  gives  a  summary  of 
the  creed  of  this  new  sect :  "  This  denomination  abstain  from  all  animal 
food  and  spirituous  liquors,  and  live  on  vegetables  and  fruits.  .They 
maintain  the  unity  of  God,  the  divinity  of  Jesus,  and  the  salvation  of 
man,  attainable  only  by  a  life  of  obedience  to  the  light  manifested  to  his 
mind  and  a  grateful  acknowledgment  of  his  indebtedness  to  the  great 
Giver  of  all.     The  congregation  numbers  about  seventy  members." 

Biddable.  This  Irish  word  is  in  use  in  the  West.  "White  servants  are 
not  Uddable"  that  is,  manageable,  obedient  to  order. 

Big.  Great,  fine,  excellent.  The  "  Ug  beU,"  the  "  big  altar,"  and  the 
"  big  desk  "  of  a  church,  are  assuredly  big  vulgarisms.  The  "  big  horn," 
for  the  last  trumpet,  is  almost  profane. 

" Hello  ! "  sez  he,  "what 's  that ?  " 

"  That  ere,"  sez  I,  "  's  some  o'  the  biggest  whiskey  that  ever  slipped  down  a  fel- 
ler's tluroat,  without  smellin  o'  the  customs."  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Big  Bugs.     People  of  consequence. 

Then  we  '11  go  to  the  Lord's  house  —  I  do  n't  mean  to  the  meetin'  house,  but 
where  the  nobles  meet,  pick  out  the  big  bugs,  and  see  what  sort  o'  stuff  they  're  made 
of.  —  Sain  Slick  in  England,  ch.  24. 

These  preachers  dress  like  big  bugs,  and  go  ridin'  about  on  hundred-dollar  horses, 
a-spungin'  poor  priest-ridden  folks,  and  a-eaten  chicken-fixens  so  powerful  fast  that 
chickens  has  got  scarce  in  these  diggins.  —  Carlton's  New  Put-chase,  Vol.  II.  p.  140. 

The  fiee-and-easy  manner  in  which  the  hair-brained  Sir  Robert  Peel  described 
some  of  the  big  bugs  at  Moscow  has  got  him  into  difficulty.  —  N.  Y.  Times,  Feb- 
ruary, 1857. 

Miss  Samson  Savage  is  one  of  the  big  bugs  —  that  is,  she  's  got  more  money  than 
a' most  anybody  else  in  town.  — Bedott  Papers,  p.  301. 

Big  Dog.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  the  principal  man  of  a  place  or 
in  an  undertaking  is  called  the  big  dog  with  a  brass  collar,  as  opposed 
to  the  little  curs  not  thought  worthy  of  a  coUar. 

Big  Drink.     1.  A  large  glass  of  liquor. 

2.  A  cant  term  applied,  at  the  South-west,  to  the  Mississippi  River. 


82  BIG— BIL 

"Well,  as  I  was  sayin',  off  I  sot,  went  through  Mississippi,  crossed  the  h!g  drink, 
come  too  now  and  then,  when  the  chill  come  it  too  strong,  but  could  n't  git  shut  of 
the  ager.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times,  Frontier  Incident. 

Big  Figure.  To  go  the  big  figure  or  do  things  on  the  hig  figure,  means 
to  do  them  on  a  large  scale.  This  vulgar  phrase  is  used  at  the  West  and 
South. 

"Well,  I  glory  in  her  spunk,  but  it 's  monstrous  expensive  and  unpleasant  to  do 
things  on  the  hig  figure  that  she's  on  now.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship. 

Big  Head.     1.  A  swelling  of  the  head  in  cattle. 

2.  A  term  used  in  the  "West  to  denote  that  affection  in  youth  which 
has  recently  found  a  more  elegant  designation  in  the  term  "  Young 
America."  It  is  applied  to  boys  who  smoke  cigars,  chew  tobacco,  drink 
strong  liquors,  gamble,  and  treat  their  parents  and  superiors  as  their  in- 
feriors. Of  such  a  boy  it  is  said,  "  he  has  got  the  big  head."  Also  called 
swell  head. 

Big  Horn.  (^Ovis  moniana.)  Another  name  for  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Sheep,  an  animal  extensively  distributed  through  North  America  along 
the  highlands  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  from  California  to  the  parallel 
of  68°.  —  aS'.  F.  Baird. 

Big  Meeting.  Common  in  the  West  for  "protracted  meeting."  In 
country  towns  where  there  are  no  churches  and  where  preachers  are  sel- 
dom seen,  the  arrival  of  one  is  a  matter  of  importance  to  the  whole 
surrounding  region.  The  people  assemble  in  great  numbers  and  from  a 
distance,  and  having  come  so  far,  one  sermon  will  not  suffice ;  so  for 
several  days  together  religious  services  are  held.  This  has  originally  no 
reference  to  any  especial  interest  in  the  hearers,  but  the  transition  to  the 
ordinary  "  protracted  meeting  "  is  natural. 

Biggest.  Greatest,  finest,  most  excellent ;  as,  "  He 's  the  biggest  kind 
of  a  musician." 

The  thermal  springs  ai-e  regarded  by  the  trappers  as  the  breathing-places  of  his 
Satanic  majesty ;  and  considered,  moreover,  to  be  the  biggest  kind  of  medicine  to 
be  found  in  the  mountains.  — Ruxton,  Life  in  the  Far  West,  p.  129. 

Bilberry.  (  Vaccinium.)  The  popular  name  of  shrubs  belonging  to  dif- 
ferent species  of  whortleberry. 

BiLiNG.  A  vulgar  pronunciation  of  boiling.  The  phrase  the  whole  (or 
more  commonly  hull)  kit  and  bilin,  means  the  whole  lot,  applied  to  per- 
sons or  things. 

Bill-fish.  (Belone  truncata.)  A  small  sea-fish  fond  of  running  up  into 
fresh  water  during  the  summer,  and  often  taken  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  ocean.    Also  called  Sea-pike,  Silver  Gar-fish,  etc. 


BIL  — BIT  33 

Billy.  A  weapon  used  by  desperadoes,  and  sometimes  carried  by  poKce- 
men.     See  Slung-shot. 

A  day  or  two  since  a  poor  German  was  taken  to  prison,  and,  on  examining  him, 
it  was  discovered  that  he  was  a  victim  to  the  hilly.  —  N.  Y.  Herald. 

BiME-BY.     A  popular  contraction  for  hy-and-hy.     According  to  Halliwell, 
it  is  used  in  the  county  of  Somerset,  England. 
O  Miss  Nancy,  do  n't  you  cry ; 
Your  sweetheart  will  come  bime-by. 
"When  he  comes,  he  's  drest  in  blue  ; 
That 's  a  sign  he  '11  maiTy  you.  —  Children's  Song. 

BmDWEED.  The  popular  name  in  Massachusetts  for  the  convolvulus. — 
Bigelow's  Flora.  This  term  is  preferable  to  the  provincial  English 
"  Robin  run  the  hedge." 

Bindery.    A  place  where  books  are  boimd.  —  Webster. 

A  writer  in  the  Penny  Cyclopedia  thinks  this  a  new  but  not  a  bad 

word. 
BiBDS-EYE  Limestone.     The  name  of  a  formation  in  the   New  York 

system  of  Geology. 

Bishop.     An  appendage  to  a  lady's  wardrobe,  otherwise  called  a  Bustle. 

I  sing  the  bishop,  alias  the  bustle, 

A  theme  transcendant  for  a  human  tongue  ; 
Prepare,  my  muse,  for  a  heroic  tussle  ! 

Let  every  nerve  with  energy  be  strung  ! 

The  Bustle,  a  Philos.  Poem. 

Mr.  Saxe,  in  his  poem  on  "  Progress,"  says  that  Imperial  Fashion 
decides  the  gravest  questions  which  divide  the  world. 

If  wi'ong  may  not,  by  circumstance,  be  right,  — 
If  black  cravats  be  more  genteel  than  white,  — 
If,  by  her  bishop,  or  her  "  grace,"  alone, 
A  genuine  lady,  or  a  church,  is  kno^vn. 

Bison.     See  Buffalo. 

Bit.  (Span,  pieza.)  The  name,  in  some  Southern  States,  of  a  silver  coin 
of  the  value  of  one  eighth  of  a  doUar,  the  Spanish  real  (de  plata). 
It  is  called  also  an  eleven-penny  bit  or  a  levy.  See  the  article  Federal 
Currency. 

Bitters.  A  hquid  or  spirituous  liquor,  containing  an  infusion  of  bitter 
herbs  and  roots.  —  Worcester. 

Bitters,  before  the  temperance  refonn,  were  much  in  fashion,  taken 
before  breakfast  to  give  an  appetite.  The  custom  is  now  confined  to 
professed  tipplers,  or  to  where  fever  and  ague  abounds. 

What  was  that  I  saw  you  taking  for  your  bitters,  a  little  while  ago  1  —  Cooper, 
Satanstoe,  p.  68. 


84  BLA— BLA 

Black  Bass.  1.  A  favorite  game  fish,  found  in  abundance  in  most  of  ouf 
Northern  lakes  and  "Western  rivers. 

2.  On  the  Jersey  coast,  this  name  is  also  given  to  the  Sea  Bass 
(  Centopristes  nigricans.) 

Blackberry.  This  term  is  imiversal  in  the  United  States  for  the  Eng- 
lish Bramble-berry. 

Blackberry  Bush.     Bramble-bush. 

Blackfish.     See  Tautaug. 

Blackgum.     (  Genus  Nyssa.)     A  tree  common  to  the  Middle  States. 

Black  Jack.     The  Quercus  nigra,  or  Barren  oak. 

Black  Mail.  Formerly,  money  paid  to  men  allied  with  robbers  to  be 
protected  by  them  from  being  robbed.  —  Gowell. 

In  the  United  States  it  usually  means  money  extorted  from  a  person 
by  threatening  to  accuse  him  of  a  crime  or  to  oppose  him  in  the  public 
prints.     This  is  called  "  levying  black  mail." 

Blackstrap.  Gin  and  molasses.  The  English  sailors  call  the  common 
wines  of  the  Mediterranean,  blackstrap.  —  falconers  Marine  Dictionary. 

Come,  MoUj,  dear,  no  blackstrap  to-night,  switchel,  or  ginger  pop.  —  Margaret, 
p.  300. 

Mister,  I  guess  you  never  drink'd  no  blackstrap,  did  you  ?  Why,  bless  you,  it 's 
the  sweetest  drink  that  ever  streaked  down  a  gullet.  —  Hill's  Yankee  Stories. 

Blackstrap  in  old  times  was  the  common  beverage  of  engine  companies 
at  fires  in  Boston,  and  is  thus  poetically  alluded  to  by  one  of  her  writers  : 

But  oh !  let  blackstrap's  sable  god  deplore 
Those  engine-heroes  so  renowned  of  yore  ! 

Harvard  Register,  q.  235. 

Blackwood.     Hemlock,  pine,  spruce,  and  fir.    Maine. 

Bladder-tree.  {Siraphylea.)  A  handsome  shrub,  from  six  to  ten  feet 
high,  remarkable  for  its  large  inflated  capsules.  —  Bigelovi's  Flora  Bos- 
toniensis. 

Bladder- WORT.  (Utricularia  vulgaris.)  The  popular  name  of  an 
aquatic  plant,  appearing  above  water  only  with  its  stalk  and  flowers.  — 
Ibid. 

Blanket.  A  term  used  distinctively  for  the  clothing  of  an  Indian.  To 
say  of  one's  father  or  mother  that  they  "  wore  the  blanket,"  implies  that 
they  were  but  half  civilized  Indians.     Western. 

Blanket  Coat.  A  coat  made  from  a  blanket,  common  in  the  "West,  and 
often  seen  with  the  black  stripe  of  the  border  of  the  original  blanket 


BLA  — BLA  35 

crossing  various  parts  of  the  garment.  Such  a  coat,  of  a  bright  blue, 
would  be  deemed  a  great  oddity  in  the  Atlantic  States ;  in  the  West,  a 
green  one  would  be  considered  equally  ridiculous.  See  3fackinaw 
Blanket. 

Blanket  Indian.  A  wild  Indian,  whose  principal  article  of  dress  is  the 
blanket. 

Blathek.  The  Irish  pronunciation  of  bladder ;  figuratively,  idle,  windy 
talk.     Western. 

Blatherskite.  A  blustering,  noisy,  talkative  fellow.  Though  of  Scotch 
origin,  the  term  is  much  used  in  the  West. 

Blauser.  (Dutch,  blazer,  a  blower.)  The  name  given  by  the  Dutch  set- 
tlers to  the  hog-nosed  snake,  from  its  habit  of  distending  or  blowing  up 
the  skin  of  its  neck  and  head.  The  other  popular  names  in  New  York 
are  Deaf- Adder  and  Buckwheat-nosed  Adder. — Nat.  Hist,  of  New  York. 

Blaze.  In  traversing  the  dense  forests  of  the  West,  a  person  would  soon 
lose  his  way  and  find  it  difficult  to  retrace  his  steps,  without  some  land- 
mark. This  is  made  by  cutting  a  piece  out  of  the  side  of  trees  at  a 
sufficient  distance  from  each  other  to  enable  the  traveller  readily  to  dis- 
cover them,  and  thus  foUow  the  direct  path  or  road.  Such  a  mark  is 
called  a  blaze,  and  trees  thus  marked  are  said  to  be  blazed.  "  That  horse 
has  a  blazed  forehead,"  meaning  a  white  spot  on  it. 

Three  blazes  in  a  perpendicular  line  on  the  same  tree  indicating  a  legislative  road, 
the  single  blaze,  a  settlement  or  neighborhood  road.  —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase. 

After  traversing  a  broad  marsh,  however,  where  my  horse  seemed  loth  to  venture, 
I  struck  a  burr-oak  opening,  and  soon  found  my  way  by  the  blazed  trees  back  to  the 
mail  trail.  —  Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West. 

I  kept  the  banks  of  the  bayou,  and  determined  to  mark  the  tret  with  a  hlasx.  —  A 
Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p.  63. 

Do  yon  see  that  blaze  in  the  hemlock  tree  1  "Well,  he  up  and  as  quick  as  a  wink 
fired  and  hit  it  in  the  centre.  —  S.  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  112. 

To  BLAZE,  or  BLAZE  OUT.  To  designate  by  blazing  (see  the  preced- 
ing article)  ;  to  mark  out. 

Champollion  died  in  1 832,  having  done  little  more  than  Ua^e  out  the  road  to  bo 
travelled  by  others.  — Nott's  Chronology,  Ancient  and  Scriptural,  p.  36. 

Blazes.    JJike  blazes,  that  is,  furiously.  —  Moor's  Suffolk  Words. 

As  they  cut  away,  the  company 

Stil  kep  upon  the  glare ; 

An'  when  comin'  in,  the  bosses  ded 

Along  like  blazes  tear.  — Poem  in  Essex  Dialect,  p.  21. 

This  expression  is  common  in  low  language  with  us.     At  the  South  it 
seems  to  be  used  as  a  euphemism  for  devil,  etc. 


36  BLA  — BLO 

I  've  been  serving  my  country  like  a  patriot,  goin'  to  town-meetings,  hurraing  my 
daylights  out,  and  getting  as  blue  as  blazes.  — J.  C.  Need. 

All  the  hair  was  off  his  head,  and  his  face  was  as  black  as  the  very  old  blazes.  — 
Chron.  of  Pineville,  p.  49. 

Blazing  Star.  (Aletris  farinosa.)  A  plant,  the  root  of  which  is  greatly 
esteemed  by  the  Indians  and  people  of  the  West  for  its  medicinal  virtues. 
It  is  also  called  Devil's  Bit.  Both  names  are  also  applied  to  other  and 
very  different  plants. 

Blickey.     (Dutch,  blik,  tin.)     In  New  York,  a  tin  pail. 

To  Blind  a  trail.  To  conceal  a  person's  foot-prints,  or  to  give  them  the 
appearance  of  going  in  a  different  direction ;  and,  figuratively,  to  deceive 
a  person  by  putting  him  on  the  wrong  track. 

Blizzard.     A  poser.     This  word  is  not  known  in  the  Eastern  States. 

A  gentlemen  at  dinner  asked  me  for  a  toast ;  and  supposing  he  meant  to  have 
some  fun  at  my  expense,  I  concluded  to  go  ahead,  and  give  him  and  Ids  likes  a 
blizzard.  —  Crockett's  Tour,  p.  16. 

Block.  A  term  applied  in  America  to  a  square  mass  of  houses  included 
between  four  streets.  It  is  a  very  useful  one.  The  term  is  used  in  the 
London  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  88,  p.  477,  in  an  article  on  "  Sanitary 
Consolidation." 

Such  an  average  block,  comprising  282  houses  and  covering  nine  acres  of  ground, 
exists  in  Oxford  street.  It  forms  a  compact  square  mass,  or  "  insula,"  to  borrow  a 
term  from  the  Romans,  favorably  situated  for  military  engineering. 

Blood  Root.  (Sanguinaria  canadensis.)  The  plant  is  so  called  from 
the  blood-red  juice- which  exudes  from  a  fresh  root  when  broken.  See 
Puccoon. 

Blood-Tubs.     A  set  of  rowdies  in  Baltimore. 

Blooded.  Blooded  cattle,  or  stock,  is  a  term  applied  to  horses,  homed 
cattle,  swine,  etc.,  of  choice  breeds. 

Blouse.  (French.)  A  loose  frock,  made  of  brown  linen,  fastened  round 
the  waist  with  a  belt ;  worn  by  men  and  boys  in  France,  and  lately  intro- 
duced partially  into  this  country. 

To  Blow.  To  boast,  brag ;  to  "  talk  big."  "  You  hlow  behind  my  back, 
but  dare  not  say  any  thing  to  my  face." 

Blower.  1.  A  plate  of  sheet  iron,  used  to  partially  stop  the  opening  of  a 
grate  or  furnace,  and  thus  increase  the  draft. 

2.  A  braggart ;  a  teller  of  incredible  anecdotes,  feats,  and  hairbreadth 
escapes. 

Blow  of  Cotton.    In  the  South,  the  bursting  of  the  pods. 


BLO  — BLU  37 

To  BLOW  OUT.  To  talk  violently  or  abusively.  The  pious  Uncle  Tiff,  as 
related  by  Mrs.  Stowe,  wonders  how  people  get  to  heaven  among  the 
conflicting  doctrines : 

Dere  's  de  Methodists,  dey  cuts  up  de  Presbyterians  ;  de  Presbyterians  pitch  into 
de  Methodists,  and  both  are  down  on  de  Episcopals ;  while  de  Baptists  tink  dey 
none  on  dem  right ;  and  while  dey 's  all  blowing  out  at  each  other  dat  ar  way,  I's 
wondering  whar 's  de  way  to  Canaan.  —  Dred,  Vol.  I.,  p.  276. 

Blue.  Gloomy,  severe ;  extreme,  ultra.  In  the  former  sense  it  is  applied 
especially  to  the  Presbyterians,  to  denote  their  severe  and  mortified  ap- 
pearance. Thus,  beneath  an  old  portrait  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in 
the  Woodbum  Gallery,  is  the  following  inscription : 

A  true  blue  Priest,  a  Lincey  Woolsey  Brother, 
One  legg  a  pulpit  holds,  a  tub  the  other ; 
An  Orthodox  grave,  moderate  Presbyterian, 
Half  surplice  cloake,  half  Priest,  half  Puritan. 
Made  up  of  all  these  halfes,  hee  cannot  pass 
For  any  thing  entirely  but  an  ass. 

In  the  latter  sense  it  is  used  particularly  in  poHtics. 

The  bluest  description  of  old  Van  Rensselaer  Federalists  have  followed  Col.  Pten- 
tiss  (in  Otsego  county).  —  iV".  Y.  Tribune. 

Blue.  A  synonyme  in  the  tippler's  vocabulary  for  drunk.  To  drink  "  till 
all 's  blue"  is  to  get  exceedingly  tipsy. 

Blue-Berrt.  (  Vacimum  tenellum.)  A  fruit  resembling  the  whortleberry 
in  appearance  and  taste. 

Blue-Book.  a  printed  book  containing  the  names  of  all  the  persons 
holding  office  under  the  government  of  the  United  States,  with  their  place 
of  birth,  amount  of  salary,  etc.  It  answers  to  the  Red-Book  of  Eng- 
land. This  distinction  in  color  was  made  at  the  suggestion  of  Peter 
Force,  Esq.,  of  Washington. 

Blue  curls.  (^Trichostema  dichotomum.)  From  the  shape  and  color  of 
its  flowers.  A  common  plant  resembling  pennyroyal,  and  hence  called 
bastard  pennyroyal. 

Blue-Fish.  (^Temnodon  scdtator.)  A  salt-water  fish  of  the  mackerel 
order,  but  larger  in  size.  It  is  one  of  the  most  voracious  fishes  on  the 
Atlantic  coast.  It  bites  readily  at  any  object  drawn  rapidly  through  the 
water ;  as  a  bone  squid  or  metal  spoon,  a  minnow,  white  rag,  and  in  fact 
any  conspicuous  bait.  On  the  Jersey  coast,  they  are  called  Horse-Mack- 
erel ;  and  in  Virginia,  Salt-water  Tailors.  Another  name  is  the  Skip- 
jack. On  the  Jersey  coast,  the  name  Blue-Jish  is  applied  to  the  Weak- 
fish,  or  Squeteauge. 

4 


38  BLU  — BLU 

Blue-Grass.  The  name  of  the  grass  of  the  rich  limestone  land  of  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee.  It  affords  pasture  for  ten  or  eleven  months  in  the 
year,  and  flourishes  in  the  partial  shade  of  the  woods  in  which  there  is 
no  undergrowth.  The  change  from  the  fertile  soil  upon  which  this  grass 
flourishes  to  that  which  is  poorer  is  sudden  and  well  marked.  Hence 
the  term  "  Blue- Grass  "  is  applied  both  to  the  region  and  its  inhabitants. 
"  Grape-vine,"  for  similar  reasons,  is  used  in  opposition  to  "  Blue-grass," 
although  not  with  equal  propriety,  as  the  vine  does  grow  well  on  either 
soil,  while  the  blue-grass  does  not.  Sometimes,  in  opposition  to  "  Blue- 
grassmen,"  we  have  "  Mountain  men."  See  Owen^s  Geological  Survey 
of  Kentucky. 

Blue  Laws.  Where  and  how  the  story  of  the  New  Haven  Blue  Laws 
originated  is  a  matter  of  some  curiosity.  According  to  Dr.  Peters,  the 
epithet  blue  was  applied  to  the  laws  of  New  Haven  by  the  neighboring 
colonies  because  these  laws  were  thought  peculiarly  sanguinary ;  and  he 
says  that  blue  is  equivalent  to  bloody.  It  is  a  sufficient  refutation  of  this 
account  of  the  matter,  to  say,  that  if  there  Avas  any  distinction  between 
the  colony  of  New  Haven  and  the  other  united  colonies  of  New  Eng- 
land in  the  severity  of  their  punisliments.  New  Haven  was  the  last 
of  the  number  to  gain  this  bad  preeminence.  Others  have  said,  that 
certain  laws  of  New  Haven,  of  a  more  private  and  domestic  kind, 
were  bound  in  a  blue  cover ;  and  hence  the  name.  This  explana- 
tion has  as  little  probability  as  the  preceding  for  its  support.  It  is  well 
known,  that,  on  the  restoration  of  Charles  H.,  the  Puritans  became  the 
subject  of  every  kind  of  reproach  and  contumely.  Not  only  what  was 
deserving  of  censure  in  their  deportment,  but  their  morality,  was 
especially  held  up  to  scorn.  The  epithet  blue  was  applied  to  any  one 
who  looked  with  disapprobation  on  the  licentiousness  of  the  times.  The 
Presbyterians,  under  which  name  aU  dissenters  were  often  included,  as 
they  still  dared  to  be  the  advocates  of  decency,  were  more  particularly 
designated  by  this  term ;  their  religion  and  their  morality  being  marked 
by  it  as  mean  and  contemptible.     Thus  Butler : 

For  his  religion,  it  was  fit 

To  match  his  learning  and  his  wit ; 

'T  was  Presbyterian  true  blue.  — Hudib.  Canto  I. 

That  this  epithet  of  derision  should  find  its  way  to  the  colonies  was  a 
matter  of  course.  It  was  here  applied  not  only  to  persons,  but  to  cus- 
toms, institutions,  and  laws  of  the  Puritans,  by  those  who  wished  to  ren- 
der the  prevailing  system  ridiculous.  Hence  probably  a  belief  with 
some,  that  a  distinct  system  of  laws,  known  as  the  Blue  Laws,  must  have 
somewhere  a  local  habitation.  —  Prof.  Kingsley's  Hist.  Discourse. 

Blue  Law  State.     Connecticut. 


BLU— BLU  39 

Blue  Lights.  During  the  war  of  1812,  while  the  British  fleet  lay  off 
New  London,  blue  lights  were  often  seen  at  night  near  the  shore,  which 
were  attributed  by  Commodore  Decatur  (whose  vessels  lay  there  for 
security)  to  persons  who  were  friendly  to  the  British,  and  hence  traitors. 
The  conclusion  was  an  unjust  one,  as  no  American  was  ever  discovered 
or  even  suspected  of  burning  them.  Hence,  says  Mr.  Goodrich,  "  Blue 
lights,  meaning  treason  on  the  part  of  Connecticut  Federalists  during  the 
war,  is  a  standard  word  in  the  flash  dictionary  of  democracy."  "  Even 
to  this  day,"  he  says  elsewhere,  "  Connecticut  Blue  Lights  are  the  grizzly 
monsters  with  which  the  nursing  fathers  and  mothers  of  democracy 
frighten  their  children  into  obedience — just  before  elections  !" — Recol- 
lections, Vol.  L,  p.  439  and  484. 

Horace  Greeley,  and  a  train  of  real  hlue  liglit  Clayites  from  your  State,  have  ar- 
rived this  morning,  and  make  their  head-quarters  at  the  Franklin.  Horace  has 
fastened  on  his  armor  with  rivets  and  hammer,  and  the  Taylor  men  will  find  him  a 
regular  "  barnburner  ! "  — New  York  Herald. 

Blue-nose.     The  slang  name  for  a  native  of  Nova  Scotia. 

"  Pray,  sir,"  said  one  of  my  fellow  passengers,  "  can  you  tell  me  why  the  Nova 
Scotians  arc  called  'Blue-Noses  ?  '  " 

"  It  is  the  name  of  a  potatoe,"  said  I,  "  which  they  produce  in  great  perfection, 
and  boast  to  be  the  best  in  the  world.  The  Americans  have,  in  consequence,  given 
them  the  nickname  of  Blue-Noses."  —  Sam  Slick. 

Do  you  know  the  reason  monkeys  are  no  good  ?  Because  they  chatter  all  day 
long,  —  so  do  the  niggers,  —  and  so  do  the  Blue-Noses  of  Nova  Scotia.  —  Sam 
Slick. 

After  a  run  [in  the  steamer]  of  fourteen  days,  we  entered  the  harbor  of  Halifax, 
amid  the  hearty  cheers  of  a  large  number  of  Blue-Noses.  —  Sir  George  Simpson's 
Overland  Journey,  Vol.  I.  p.  19. 

Blue  Perch.     See  Burgall. 

Blue-skins.  A  nickname  applied  to  the  Presbyterians,  from  their  alleged 
grave  deportment. 

Blue-Stocking.  The  American  avocet  (Recurvirostra  americana.)  A 
common  bird  in  the  Northern  States. 

Bluets.  (Oldenlandia  ccerulea.)  A  delicate  little  herb,  producing  in 
spring  a  profusion  of  light-blue  flowers  fading  to  white,  with  a  yellowish 
eye. —  Gray. 

Bluff,  n.  A  high  bank,  almost  perpendicular,  projecting  into  the  sea.  — 
Falconer's  Marine  Die. 

In  America  it  is  applied  to,  1.  A  high  bank,  presenting  a  steep  front 
along  a  river,  in  the  interior  of  the  country.     Hence  it  is  also  used  as  a 


40  BLU  — BOA 

geological  term  to  denote  the  lacustrine  formation  where  these  high  banks 
occur. 

Here  you  have  the  advantage  of  mountain,  hluff,  interval,  to  set  off  the  view.  — 
Margaret,  p.  282. 

2.  A  game  of  cards. 

Bltjfp,  adj.     Steep,  bold ;  as  a  hill. 

Its  banks,  if  not  really  steep,  had  a  hluff  and  precipitous  aspect,  from  the  tall 
forest  that  girded  it  about.  — Margaret,  p.  7. 

To  Bluff  off.  To  put  off  a  troublesome  questioner  or  dun  with  a 
gruff  answer ;  to  frighten  a  person  in  any  way,  in  order  to  deter  him 
from  accomplishing  his  ends. 

"  I  goes  you  five  dollars,  this  time,"  says  Jim,  posting  at  the  same  time  the 
tin. 

"  I  sees  dat,  and  I  goes  you  ten  better,"  said  Bill ;  "you  ain't  agoin'  to  hluff  dis 
child,  no  how  you  can  fix  it." 

"  I  sees  you  again,"  said  Jim,  "  and  goes  you  forty  better ;  dis  Orleans  nigger 
won't  stay  stumped,  dat  I  tells  you,  sartin."  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

In  the  course  of  the  dispute  Jim  let  out  some  offensive  remark,  which  brought  a 
rejoinder  from  Joe.  The  former  tried  the  hluffing  system ;  but  Joe  said  he  had  stood 
enough,  and  would  put  up  with  no  more  insults  from  his  bullying  neighbor.  — South- 
ern Sketches,  p.  137. 

Blummechies.  (Dutch.)  This  Dutch  word  for  small  flowers  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  New  York  markets. 

Blummies.  (Dutch.)  Flowers.  In  the  State  of  New  York,  and  particu- 
larly in  the  city  and  along  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  Rivers. 

A  gentleman,  ruralizing  along  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  stopped  to 
pick  some  wild  flowers  near  where  sat  an  aged  man,  and  said : 

"  Tliesc  flowers  are  beautiful,  —  it  is  a  treat  for  one  from  the  city  to  gaze  on 
them !  " 
■*        "  Flowers  1 "  replied  the  old  man,  with  an  air  of  bewilderment.     "  Flowers  !  what 
be  they  ? " 

"  Why,  these ! "  replied  I,  stooping  and  picking  some. 

"  0,  the  blummies  !    Yes,  the  blummies  be  very  thick  hereabouts  ! "  he  replied. 

Newspaper. 

Boards.  In  the  South-west,  boards  are  strips  of  wood  from  two  to  four 
feet  in  length  riven  from  blocks,  and  differing  only  in  size  from  shingles. 
All  sawed  stuff,  which  at  the  North  is  called  boards,  is  here  called 
plank. 

BoATABLE.  Navigable  for  boats  or  small  river-craft.  —  Webster.  This 
useful  word  has  only  recently  been  adopted  into  the  English  Diction- 
aries. 

The  Seneca  Indians  say,  they  can  walk  four  times  a  day  from  the  hoatahle  Avaters 
of  the  Alleghany  to  those  of  the  Tioga.  —  Morse's  Geography, 


BOA  — BOB  41 

This  word,  says  Dr.  Webster,  though  of  modem  origin,  is  well  formed 
according  to  the  English  analogies,  like  fordable,  creditable,  etc.  The 
advantage  of  using  it  is  obvious,  as  it  expresses  an  important  distinction 
in  the  capacity  of  water  to  bear  vessels.  Navigable  is  a  generic  term, 
of  which  boatable  is  the  species ;  and  as  the  use  of  it  saves  a  circumlo- 
cution, instead  of  being  proscribed,  it  should  be  received  as  a  real  im- 
provement. —  Letter  to  J.  Pickering  on  his  Vocabulary,  p.  6. 

The  objection  to  this  word  is,  that  it  is  a  hybrid,  composed  of  a  Saxon 
noun  and  a  Latin  ending.  It  is  like  fordable,  but  not  like  creditable, 
which  is  all  Latin.     We  would  hardly  use  the  word  trustable. 

BoATiXG.     Transporting  in  boats.  —  Webster. 

Bob.  a  knot  of  worms  or  chicken-guts  on  a  string,  used  in  fishing  for 
eels,  and  in  the  South  for  trout.  The  bob  is  frequently  made  of  colored 
rags,  red,  black,  etc. ;  and  for  large  trout,  it  is  a  bait  equivalent  to  the 
artificial  fly. 

To  Bob.     1.  To  fish  for  eels  with  a  bob.     This  word  is  common  in  New 
England,  and  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in  England. 
These  are  the  baits  they  bob  with.  —  Beaumont  and  Fletcher, 
Let  others  bend  their  necks  at  sight 

Of  fashion's  gilded  wheels, 
He  ne'er  had  learned  the  art  to  hob 

For  any  thing  but  eels. — Saxe,  The  Cold  Water  Mem. 

2.  To  cut  short,  as  the  hair.  You  have  been  bobbed,  expresses  famil- 
iarly that  your  hair  has  been  cut.  This  recalls  Shakspeare's  "  bob-tail," 
«  bob-wig." 

Bobolink.  (^Icterus  agripejinis.)  A  lively  little  bird,  so  called  from  its 
notes,  which  in  the  fall  frequents  the  wild  rice  of  shallow  rivers  and 
marshes,  where  it  becomes  very  fat.  It  is  highly  esteemed  by  epicures. 
Other  popular  names  by  which  it  is  known  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
are  Rice-bird,  Rice-bunting,  Reed-bird,  Meadow-bird,  May-bird,  Butter- 
bird,  American  Ortolan,  and,  lastly  —  and  most  inappropriately  —  Skunk 
Blackbird. 

The  happiest  bird- of  our  spring  is  the  Bobolink.  This  is  the  chosen  season  of 
revelry  for  him.  He  comes  amidst  the  pomp  and  fragrance  of  the  season ;  his  life 
seems  all  sensibility  and  enjoyment,  all  song  and  sunshine. — W.  Irving,  Wolfert's 
Roost. 

Philosophers  may  teach  thy  whereabouts  and  nature, 

But  wise,  as  all  of  us,  perforce,  must  think  'em. 
The  school-boy  best  has  fix'd  thy  nomenclature. 

The  poets,  too,  must  call  thee  Bob-o-Linkum.  — Hoffman,  Poems. 

Bob-sled.  A  sled  prepared  for  the  transportation  of  large  timber  from 
the  forest  to  a  river  or  public  road.     Maine. 

4* 


42  BOC  — BON 

BoCKEY.     (Dutch,   boJcaal.)     A  bowl  or  vessel  made  from  a  gourd.     A 

term  peculiar  to  the  city  of  New  York  and  its  vicinity. 
Booking.     A  kind  of  baize  or  woollen  cloth,  either  plain  or  stamped  with 
colored  figures,  used  to  cover  floors  or  to  protect  carpets.   It  is  also  called 
^oor-cloth. 
BoDETTE.      (Fr.  beaudette.)      In  Canada  the  common  name  for  a  cot- 
bedstead. 
Bogus,  n.     A  liquor  made  of  rum  and  molasses. 
Bogus,  adj.     Counterfeit,  false. 

The  Boston  Courier  of  June  12,  1857,  in  reporting  a  case  before  the 
Superior  Court  in  that  city,  gives  the  following  as  the  origin  of  this  word : 
"The  word  bogus  is  a  corruption  of  the  name  of  one  Borghese,  a  very 
corrupt  individual,  who,  twenty  years  ago  or  more,  did  a  tremendous 
business  in  the  way  of  supplying  the  great  "West,  and  portions  of  the 
South-west,  with  counterfeit  bills  and  bills  on  fictitious  banks.  The 
"Western  people  fell  into  the  habit  of  shortening  the  name  of  Borghese 
to  that  of  Bogus ;  and  his  bills,  as  well  as  all  others  of  like  character, 
were  imiversally  styled  by  them  "  bogus  currency."  By  an  easy  and 
not  very  unnatural  transition,  the  word  is  now  applied  to  other  fraudulent 
papers,  such  as  sham  mortgages,  bills  of  sale,  conveyances,  etc. 

"  Look  at  these  bank-bills,"  said  the  stranger  ;  "  keep  those  that  are  good,  and 
return  me  the  bad." 

"  I  guess  the  whole  pile  are  bogus,"  said  Confidence  Bob,  as  he  turned  over  his 
roll.  — North,  The  Slave  of  the  Lamp,  p.  33. 

The  wide-awake  citizens  of  Boston  have  been  sadly  bitten  by  a  bogus  issue  of  the 
old  "  Pine-Tree  Shilling  currency,"  got  up  by  a  smart  Gothanwtc.  —  American  Notes 
and  Queries,  July,  18.57. 

The  Know  Nothings  of  Massachusetts  must  behave  themselves  better  than  they 
'did  in  their  visit  to  the  Catholic  nunnery,  or  they  will  be  repudiated  by  their 
brethren  in  other  States,  as  bogus  members  of  the  order.  —  Neiu  York  Herald. 

Not  one  cent  should  be  given  to  pay  the  members  of  the  bogus  legislature  of  Kan- 
sas, or  for  the  support  of  the  bogus  laws  passed  by  them.  — Boston  Atlas. 

Bo  IS  DE  Vac  HE.     See  Buffalo  Chips. 

Bolivar  Hat.     A  Leghorn  bonnet  with  a  broad  brim,  worn  a  few  years 

since. 
BoMBO.     An  animal  of  North  Carolina,  said  to  resemble  the  hedgehog,  and 
by  some  called  a  Badger. 

Wlien  the  people  [of  North  Carolina]  entertain  their  friends,  they  fail  not  to  set 
before  them  a  capacious  bowl  of  Bombo,  so  called  from  the  animal  of  that  name.  — 
Westover  Papers,  p.  28. 

Bones.  Substitutes  for  castanets,  so  called  from  the  substance  from  which 
they  are  made.  Among  "  negro  minstrels,"  one  is  always  a  performer 
on  these  instruments,  whence  he  is  styled  "  Brudder  Bones." 


BON  — BOO  43 

'T  was  the  finest  place  for  miles  around. 

And  olc  galls  would  n't  all  come  down. 
And  they  'd  so  light  on  every  night 

To  the  old  banjo's  sweet  sound. 
The  fiddle  there,  and  den  de  bones, 

And  de  merry  tambourine. 
Oh  wish  dat  I  could  see  again 

De  ole  plantation  green.  —  Negro  Melodi/. 

BoNESET.  {^Eupatorium  perfoUatum.)  The  popular  name  of  a  medicinal 
plant.     Its  properties  are  sudorific  and  tonic. 

Bonny-clabber.  (Irish,  baine,  milk,  and  clabar,  mud.)  Milk  turned 
sour  and  thick.  It  is  sometimes  called  simply  clabber.  The  etymology 
shows  that  the  sense  in  which  the  term  is  used  in  America  is  the  true 
and  original  one,  although  it  is  usually  explained  in  dictionaries  as  mean- 
ing "  sour  buttermilk." 

We  scorn,  for  want  of  talk,  to  jabber 

Of  parties  o'er  our  bonny-clabber ; 

Nor  are  we  studious  to  inquire 

Who  votes  for  manoi's,  who  for  hire.  — Swift. 

Bont-fish.     See  Menhaden. 

To  Boo-HOO.     To  cry  aloud,  to  bawl,  bellow,  roar. 

The  little  woman  boo-hoo'd  right  out,  threw  herself  incontinently  full  on  his  breast, 
hung  around  his  neck,  and  went  on  in  a  surprising  way  for  such  a  mere  artificial  as 
an  actress.  —  Field,  Drama  in  Pokerville. 

O  ye  rash  and  inconsiderate  children  of  iniquity !  You  will  go  down  to  your 
graves  boo-hooing  like  a  kicked  booby,  soul-shattered,  body-tattered,  looking  as 
though  you  had  made  your  escape  from  a  regiment  of  wild  cats.  —  Dow's  Sermons, 
Vol.  II.,  p.  277. 

BOOBT  HUT.  A  carriage  body  put  upon  sleigh  runners.  New  England. 
It  is  a  slight  alteration  of  the  term  booby  hutch,  used  in  the  east  of  Eng- 
land to  denote  a  clumsy,  ill-contrived  covered  carriage  or  seat. 

Boodle.  "  The  whole  boodle  of  them,"  i.  e.  all,  the  whole.  New  Eng- 
land. 

Bookstore.  A  place  where  books  are  kept  and  sold.  It  is  the  common 
term  in  the  United  States  for  what  is  called,  in  England,  a  bookseller's 
shop.  —  Worcester. 

BoONDER  or  bounder.     A  scrubbing-brush.     New  York. 

To  Boost.  To  lift  or  raise  by  pushing. —  Webster.  Chiefly  used  by 
Northern  boys,  who  apply  it  to  the  act  of  shoving  a  person  by  the  poste- 
riors up  a  tree  or  over  a  fence.  "  Boost  me  up  this  tree,  and  I  '11  hook 
you  some  apples." 

He  clambered  back  into  the  box  (in  the  theatre),  the  manager  assisting  to  boost 
him  with  the  most  friendly  solicitude.  —  Field,  Drama  in  Pokerville. 


44  BOO  — BOS 

I  have  often  noticed  the  alacrity  with  which  the  policemen  of  New  York  pilot  un- 
protected females  across  the  street  and  boost  them  into  stages.  —  Doesticks. 

It  is  just  as  difficult  to  boost  a  sinner  up  to  heaven  without  con-esponding  effort  on 
his  part,  as  it  would  be  for  a  child  to  shoulder  a  sack  of  Turk's  Island  salt.  — Daw's 
Sermons. 

Office-seekers  ask  you  to  give  them  a  boost  into  the  tree  of  office.  And  what  do 
they  do  ?  They  eat  the  apples,  and  then  throw  the  cores  at  your  heads.  — Dow's 
Sermons. 

Lord  Palmerston  was  boosted  into  power  by  the  agricultural  interest  of  England. 
—  New  York  Herald. 

Boot-lick.     One  who  cringes  to  and  flatters  a  superior  for  the  purpose  of 

obtaining  favors ;  a  lickspittle,  a  toady. 
Bootee.     A  kind  of  short  or  half  boot.  —  Worcester. 
Born  in  the  Woods.     To  say  that  one  was  not  born  in  the  woods  to  be 
scared  by  an  owl,  means  that  he  is  too  much  used  to  danger  or  threats  to 
be  easily  frightened. 

I  just  puts  my  finger  to  my  nose,  and  winks,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  I  ain't  such  a 
cursed  fool  as  you  take  mc  to  be  !  "  Guess  he  found  that  was  no  go  ;  for  I  wam't 
born  in  the  woods  to  be  scared  by  an  owl.  —  Sam  Slick. 

BosAAL.  A  peculiar  kind  of  halter,  used  in  breaking  and  riding  unruly 
horses. 

Boss.  The  0  pronounced  like  a  in  all.  (Dutch,  baas.)  A  master,  an 
employer  of  mechanics  or  laborers.  Hence  we  hear  of  a  ioss-carpenter, 
a  6oss-bricklayer,  Joss-shoemaker,  etc.,  instead  of  master-carpenter,  etc. 
The  word  probably  originated  in  New  York,  and  is  now  used  in  many 
parts  of  the  United  States.  The  blacks  often  employ  it  in  addressing 
white  men  in  the  Northern  States,  as  they  do  massa  (master)  in  the 
Southern  States. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  journeymen  boot  and  shoemakers  in  New  York, 
April  9,  1850,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  that  it  is  very  desirable  that  the 
boot  and  shoemakers  form  an  incorporated  company  for  the  purpose  of  securing  to 
its  members  constant  employment  and  direct  patronage  of  shoe-buyers,  and  inde- 
pendence from  the  tyrannical  dictation  of  intermediate  capitalists  or  bosses." 

It  is  n't  saying  much  for  your  boss  politiciancr  that  he  chose  you,  when  I  was  on 
his  list  for  promotion.  —  J.  Need,  Peter  Brush. 

The  Eternal  City  is  in  a  very  curious  position.  The  Pope  has  returned  to  his 
ancestral  home ;  but  he  has  nothing  in  his  pocket,  and  Rothschild  refuses  to  let  him 
have  any  more  money.  A  thousand  years  ago  and  the  boot  would  have  been  on 
t'other  leg To-day  it  is  very  different.  The  Father  of  Holiness  is  the  de- 
pendent of  the  Jew,  and  Rothschild  is  the  real  Pope  and  boss  of  all  Europe.  —  New 
York  Herald,  May  24,  1850. 

Boss.  (Lat.  bos.)  Among  the  hunters  of  the  prairies,  a  name  for  the 
buffalo. 


BOS  — BOU  45 

To  Boss.     To  rule  over ;  to  direct. 

Let  his  "Woman's  Eights  companion 

Boss  the  house  and  take  the  money  — 

Boss  them  and  cut  off  the  dead-heads 

When  she  made  it  pay  expenses.  —  Pluribustah. 

"  What  detains  you  at  court  ?  "  said  a  lawyer  to  an  unsophisticated  countryman 
attending  in  a  court-room  in  Arkansas. 

"  Why,  sir,"  said  the  countryman,  "  I  'm  fotched  here  as  a  jury,  and  they  say  if  I 
go  home  they  will,  have  to  find  me,  and  they  mout  n't  do  that,  as  I  live  a  good 
piece." 

"  What  jury  are  you  on  1 "  asked  a  lawyer. 

"  What  jury  ?  " 

"  Yes,  what  jury  ?     Grand  or  traverse  jury  1 " 

"  Grand  or  travis  jury  ?    Dad-fetched  if  I  know." 

"  Well,"  said  the  lawyer,  "  did  the  judge  charge  you  1 " 

"  Well,  squire,"  said  he,  "  the  little  fellow  that  sits  up  in  the  pulpit  and  kinder 
bosses  it  over  the  crowd  gin  us  a  talk,  but  I  do  n't  know  whether  he  charged  any  thing 
or  not." 

The  crowd  broke  up  in  a  roar  of  laughter,  and  the  sheriff  called  court.  —  Nat. 
Intelligencer,  Kov.  3,  1856. 

Bossy.  A  familiar  name  applied  to  a  calf.  In  DorsetsMre,  England,  a 
spoilt  cliild  is  called  a  hossy  calf. 

Bottom.  Low  land  with  a  ricli  soil  formed  by  alluvial  deposits,  and  for- 
merly the  bottom  or  bed  of  a  stream  or  lake.  This  is  an  old  use  of  the 
word.  Dr.  Johnson  defines  it,  A  dale  ;  a  valley ;  a  low  groimd.  The 
distinction  is  also,  made  between  the  lowest  alluvial  lands  and  those 
reached  only  by  the  highest  floods  ;  the  latter  are  known  as  the  "  second 
bottoms." 

He  stood  among  the  myrtle-trees  that  were  in  the  bottom,  —  Zech.  i.  8. 
In  the  purlieus  stands  a  sheep-cote,  west  of  this  place,  down  in  the  neighboring 
bottom.  —  Shakspeare. 

On  both  shores  of  that  fruitful  bottom  arc  still  to  be  seen  the  marks  of  ancient 
edifices.  —  Addison  on  Itcdy. 

Both  the  bottoms  and  the  high  grounds  are  alternately  divided  into  woodlands  and 
prairies.  — Stoddard's  Louisiana,  p.  213. 

Bottom-lands.  In  the  Western  States,  this  name  is  given  to  the  rich  flat 
land  on  the  banks  of  rivers,  which  in  New  England  is  generally  called 
*  interval  land,'  or  simply  '  interval.'  —  Pickering^ s  Vocab.      Webster. 

Our  sleigh,  after  winding  for  some  time  among  this  broken  ground,  and  passing 
over  one  or  two  small  but  beautiful  pieces  of  bottom-land  among  the  ravines,  reached 
at  last  the  top  of  the  bluff.  — Hoffman. 

Boughtex.  Which  is  bought.  This  is  a  common  word  in  the  interior  of 
New  England  and  New  York.     It  is  applied  to  articles  purchased  fix»m 


46  BOU— BOW 

the  shops,  to  distinguish  them  from  articles  of  home  marrafacture.  Many 
farmers  make  their  own  sugar  from  the  maple-tree,  and  their  coffee  from 
barley  or  rye.  West  India  sugar  or  coffee  is  then  called  houghten 
sugar,  etc.  "  This  is  a  home-made  carpet ;  that  a  houghten  one ; "  i.  e. 
one  bought  at  a  shop.  Li  the  north  of  England,  bakers'  bread  is  called 
hought-hread. 

To  BouGE.  (Old  Fr.  houge,  swelling. — Gotgrave.)  To  swell  out,  to 
bulge.  This  old  word  is  noticed  by  Dr.  Johnson.  It  is  nearly  obsolete 
in  England,  but  is  preserved  in  the  interior  of  New  England. 

When  the  sun  gets  in  one  inch,  it  is  ten  o'clock ;  when  it  reaches  the  stone  that 
houges  out  there,  it  is  dinner-time.  —  Margaret,  p.  6. 

Bound.     Determined,  resolved.     A  vulgarism  of  recent  origin. 

A  handsome  nigger 's  bound  to  shine, 
Like  dandy  Jim  of  Caroline.  — Song. 
I  'm  on  the  way  to  be  as  sombre  and  solemn  as  you  are,  put  I  'm  hound  to  have  a 
good  time  first.  —  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred. 

You  see,  my  buck  brethren,  that  the  women  are  hound  to  get  the  better  of  us.  If 
they  can't  do  it  in  one  way,  they  will  in  another.  In  them  you  behold  the  wild  cat, 
the  lamb,  and  the  dove.  They  first  let  loose  their  untamed  feline  propensities ;  next 
they  give  the  juvenile  sheep  a  trial ;  and  if  that  fail,  they  rely  upon  the  loving 
pigeon.  —  Dow's  Sermons. 

Bourbon.  Whiskey  from  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky.  A  term  generally 
used  to  distinguish  the  better  kinds  of  whiskey,  which  are  mostly  made 
from  com  instead  of  rye. 

Bow-dark  tree.  (Fr.  bois  d'  arc.)  A  western  tree,  the  wash  of  which 
is  used  to  make  bows  Avith. 

Bowie-knife.  (Pron.  boo-ee.)  A  knife  from  ten  to  fifteen  inches  long, 
and  about  two  inches  broad,  so  named  after  its  inventor,  Colonel  Bowie. 
They  are  worn  as  weapons  by  persons  in  the  South  and  South-western 
States  only,  and  concealed  in  the  back  part  of  the  coat  or  in  the  sleeve. 
Bon  Gaultier,  in  his  American  Ballads,  describes  a  scene  in  Congress 
where  a  young  member  turning  to  Mr.  Clay  asks,  "  What  kind  of  a 
Locofoco  's  that  ?  "  alluding  to  a  conspicuous  character  who  had  just  en- 
tered. 

"  Young  man,"  quoth  Clay,  "  avoid  the  way  of  Slick  of  Tennessee, 
Of  gougcrs  fierce,  the  eyes  that  pierce,  the  fiercest  gouger  he ; 
He  chews  and  spits  as  there  he  sits,  and  whittles  at  the  chairs. 
And  in  his  hand,  for  deadly  strife,  a  bowie-knife  he  bears." 

I  advise  you,  one  and  all,  to  enter  eveiy  election  district  in  Kansas,  and  vote  at 
the  point  of  the  bowie-knife  and  revolver.  Neither  give  nor  take  quarter,  as  our 
case  demands  it.  —  Speech  of  Gen.  Stringfellow  in  the  Kansas  Legislature. 


BOW— BRA  47 

There 's  some  men  here  as  I  have  got  to  shoot. 
There  's  some  men  here  as  I  have  got  to  stick, 

Let  any  on  you  jest  my  words  dispute, 
I  '11  put  this  bowie-knife  into  him,  slick. 

Song  of  the  Border  Ruffian. 

Bowling-alley.  A  place  for  playing  at  bowls,  or  ten  pins.  In  England, 
long  bowling,  as  described  by  Strutt,  was  played  on  the  ground ; 
our  game  is  played  on  a  plank  flooring.  There  were  other  differences, 
which  it  is  not  necessary  to  specify,  as  the  American  bowling-alleys  and 
games  are  now  well  known  in  England. 

Bowman.     A  term  used  in  Virginia  for  a  military  body-servant. 

Each  captain  and  lieutenant  was  entitled,  and  I  believe  is  so  now,  to  select  from 
the  rank  of  his  company  a  soldier  to  wait  on  him,  to  carry  messages,  to  cater  for 
him,  and  to  cook  for  him ;  and  the  soldier  thus  selected  was  called  bowman.  The 
term  is  very  ancient,  and  traces  as  far  back  as  before  the  invention  of  gunpowder 
and  muskets.  — Sketches  of  Virginia. 

Bowman's  Root.  (Gillenia  trifoliata.)  A  medicinal  plant;  also  called 
Indian  physic. 

Box.     A  boat  for  duck-shooting.     See  Battery. 

Box  ELDER.     (Negundo  aceroides.)     Sometimes  ash-leaved  maple. 

Boy.  At  the  South,  the  universal  name  for  a  black  male  servant.  In  Ire- 
land, the  word  denotes  an  unmarried  man  in  any  menial  employment, 
whatever  his  age.  In  many  languages,  as  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  and 
French,  the  same  word  expresses  a  male  clnld  and  a  serving-man  ;  just 
as  "  girl "  and  "  maid  "  denote  a  female  servant. 

Brack.  A  break  or  crack,  a  flaw.  —  HalUwell.  This  old  word  is  still 
used  in  New  England,  as  it  is  by  early  English  authors,  of  a  break  or 
flaw  in  a  piece  of  cloth. 

Having  a  tongue  as  nimble  as  his  needle,  with  servile  patches  of  glavering  flat- 
.     tery  to  stitch  up  the  bracks,  etc. — Antonio  and  Mellida,  1602. 

The  calico  was  beautiful,  while  not  a  brack  could  be  found  in  it.  —  New  England 
Tales. 

Branch.  A  brook.  Almost  every  stream  in  the  South  is  known  either 
as  a  river,  a  bayou,  or  a  branch  ;  bayou  being  synonymous  with  creek, 
and  branch  with  brook.  "  ^rancA-water  "  is  distinguished  from  "  weU- 
water." 

The  pasturage  of  the  prairies  was  scanty  and  parched  ;  and  most  of  the  branches, 
or  streams,  were  dried  up.  —  W.  Irving's  Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

Bran-duster.  A  sort  of  boit  in  which  the  bran  is  freed  from  adhering 
flour. 


48  BRA  — BRE 

Bkasii.  Brittle.  In  New  England  this  word  is  used  in  speaking  of  wood 
or  timber  that  is  brittle.  In  New  York  it  is  often  heard  in  the  markets, 
applied  to  vegetables.  Ex.  "  These  radishes  are  brash"  i.  e.  brittle.  In 
many  parts  of  England,  twigs  are  called  brash. 

Beave.     An  Indian  warrior  ;  a  term  borrowed  from  the  French. 

The  Count  promised  himself  many  hardy  adventures  and  exploits  in  company 
with  his  youthful  hrave,  when  we  should  get  among  the  buffaloes  in  the  Pawnee 
hunting-grounds.  —  Irving' s  Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

Bkeaciiy.  a  term  applied  to  unruly  oxen  in  New  England,  particularly 
to  such  as  break  down  fences  or  through  inclosures.  It  is  provincial  in 
the  south  of  England  in  the  same  sense. 
Bread-stuff.  Bread-corn,  meal,  or  flour;  bread. —  Webster,  Pickering. 
This  very  useful  word  is  American.  Mr.  Pickering  says,  "  It  was  first 
used  in  some  of  the  official  papers  of  our  government,  soon  after  the 
adoption  of  the  present  Constitution.  ...  It  has  probably  been  more 
readily  allowed  among  us,  because  we  do  not,  like  the  English,  use  the 
word  corn  as  a  general  name  for  all  sorts  of  grain,  but  apply  it  almost 
exclusively  to  Indian  corn,  or  maize."  He  cites  the  following  authori- 
ties : 

The  articles  of  exports  ....  are  breadstuff's,  that  is  to  say,  bread-grains,  meals, 
and  bread.  —  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  (Mr.  Jefferson)  on  Commercial  Restric- 
tions, Dec.  16,  1793. 

One  great  objection  to  the  conduct  of  Britain  was  her  prohibitory  duty  on  the 
importation  of  breadstuff,  etc.  — Marshall,  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  V.  p.  519. 

In  Jamaica,  the  term  bread-kind  is  applied  to  esculent  roots,  etc.,  sub- 
stituted for  bread. 

Bread-eoot.  (Psoralea  esculenta.)  A  plant  resembling  the  beet  in 
fonn,  which  is  found  near  the  Rocky  Mountains,  sometimes  growing  from 
twenty  to  thirty  inches  in  circumference.  It  contains  a  white  pulpy  sub- 
stance, sweet  and  palatable.  —  Scenes  in  the  JRochy  Mountains,  p.  50. 

Break.  A  regular  sale  of  tobacco  at  the  "  breaking "  or  opening  of  the 
hogsheads.     Local  in  Virginia. 

Break-back.  A  term  applied  to  a  peculiar  roof,  common  in  the  country, 
where  the  rear  portion  is  extended  beyond  the  line  of  the  opposite  side, 
and  at  a  different  angle.  The  addition  thus  acquired  is  used  as  a  wash- 
room, a  storehouse,  or  for  farming  implements. 

Tlie  house  of  neighbor  B was  a  low  edifice,  two  stories  in  front ;  the  rear 

being  called  a  break-back,  that  is  sloping  down  to  a  height  of  ten  feet.  —  Goodrich's 
Reminiscences,  Vol.  I.  p.  78. 

Break  down.  1.  A  riotous  dance,  with  which  balls  are  often  terminated 
in  the  country. 


BRE  — BRO  49 

Take  up  the  carpet — move  the  bed  —  call  the  fiddler,  and  let 'shave  a  regular 
break  down.  — Southern  Sketches,  p.  60. 

Come,  hold  on,  boys,  do  n't  clear  out  when  the  quadrilles  are  over,  for  we  are 
going  to  have  a  break  down  to  wind  up  with.  —  New  England  Tales. 

-    2.  A  dance  in  the  peculiar  style  of  the  negroes. 

Beeak-bone  Fever.  A  term  commonly  used  to  denote  the  "  Dengue,"  a 
malarious  fever  of  the  South.  It  is  so  called  either  from  the  "  pain  ia 
the  bones,"  of  which  the  patients  complain,  or  from  the  great  debility 
which  follows  the  attack ;  both  reasons  have  been  assigned  for  the  appel- 
lation. 

Brewis.  In  the  North  of  England,  a  pottage  made  of  shces  of  bread 
with  fat  broth  poured  over  them.  —  Halliwell. 

In  New   England  the  term  is  applied  to  crusts  of  rye  and  Indian 
bread  softened  with  milk  and  eaten  with  molasses. 

Brick  in  the  hat.  " He  has  got  a  hick  in  his  hat"  is  an  expression 
applied  to  an  intoxicated  person ;  meaning  he  is  top-heavy,  and  cannot 
walk  steady. 

Brickley,  for  brittle.     Used  in  Georgia.  —  Sherwood's  Gazetteer. 

Brief.  Rife,  common,  prevalent.  This  word  is  provincial  in  England, 
and  is  much  used  by  the  tmeducated  in  the  interior  of  New  England  and 
in  Virginia,  when  speaking  of  epidemic  diseases.  It  is  probably  a  cor- 
ruption of  rife. 

Bright.  InteUigent,  quick,  having  an  active  mind.  A  term  often  applied 
to  children ;  as,  "  Although  he  has  had  but  little  schooling,  our  Jonathan 
is  a  bright  lad." 

Broadbill.  (Anas  marila.)  The  common  name  of  a  wild  duck,  which 
appears  on  our  coast  in  large  numbers  in  October.  On  the  Chesapeake 
it  is  called  Black-head;  and  in  Virginia,  Raft-duck. 

Broad-horn.  A  name  by  which  the  flat-boats  on  the  lilississippi  were 
formerly  known.     See  Flat-boat.  ^/   '^tt^a/au: 

At  Wheeling  I  embarked  in  a  flat-bottomed  family  boat,  technically  called  a  broad' 
horn,  a  prime  river  conveyance.  — W.  Irving,  Wol/ert's  Roost,  p.  258. 

"  Been  boating,  Ben,  since  I  met  you  1  "  I  inquired,  after  a  short  pause. 

"  Well,  yes,  mostly,"  answered  Ben,  deliberately.  "  Drove  a  pretty  fair  business 
last  year ;  only  sunk  one  broad-horn,  and  that  war  snagged  on  the  Mississippi."  — 
Ben  Wilson's  Jug  Race. 

I  'm  the  man  that,  single-handed,  towed  the  broad-horn  over  a  sand-bar,  —  the 
identical  infant  who  girdled  a  hickory  by  smiling  at  the  bark ;  and  if  any  one  denies 
it,  let  him  make  his  will  and  pay  the  expenses  of  a  funeral.  —  Thorp,  in  Harper's 
Mag. 

5 


50  "  BRO  — BRO 

Brogues.     (Dutch,  hroeh)     Breeches. 

[General  Von  Poffenburgh'sJ  men  being  thus  gallantly  arrayed, — those  who 
lacked  muskets  shouldering  spades  and  pickaxes,  and  every  man  being  ordered  to 
tuck  in  his  shirt-tail  and  pull  up  his  brogues,  etc.  —  Knickerbocker,  N.  Y. 

Beoom-Corn.  (Sorffhum  saccharatum.)  A  species  of  com  which  grows 
from  six  to  eight  feet  high,  from  the  tufts  of  which  brooms  ai'e  made. 
Very  different  plants  are  used  for  this  purpose  in  Europe,  and  the  Eng- 
lish broom  is  as  unlike  ours  as  possible. 

Brother  Jonathan.  The  origin  of  this  term,  as  applied  to  the  United 
States,  is  given  in  a  recent  number  of  the  Norwich  Courier.  The  editor 
says  it  was  communicated  by  a  gentleman  now  upwards  of  eighty  years 
of  age,  who  was  an  actiye  participator  in  the  scenes  of  the  Revolution. 
The  story  is  as  follows : 

When  Greneral  "Washington,  after  being  appointed  commander  of  the  army  of  the 
Revolutionary  war,  came  to  Massachusetts  to  organize  it  and  make  preparations  for 
the  defence  of  the  country,  he  found  a  great  want  of  ammunition  and  other  means 
necessary  to  meet  the  powerful  foe  he  had  to  contend  with,  and  great  diflSculty  to 
obtain  them.  If  attacked  in  such  condition,  the  cause  at  once  might  be  hopeless. 
On  one  occasion,  at  that  anxious  period,  a  consultation  of  the  officers  and  others 
^  was  had,  when  it  seemed  no  way  could  be  devised  to  make  such  preparation  as  was 
necessary.  His  Excellency  Jonathan  Trumbull  the  elder  was  then  governor  of  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  on  whose  judgment  and  aid  the  general  placed  the  greatest  re- 
liance, and  remarked  :  "  We  must  consult  '  Brother  Jonathan '  on  the  subject." 
The  general  did  so,  and  the  governor  was  successful  in  supplying  many  of  the 
wants  of  the  army.  When  difficulties  afterwards  arose,  and  the  army  was  spread 
over  the  country,  it  became  a  by-word.  We  must  consult  Brother  Jonathan.  The  term 
Yankee  is  still  applied  to  a  portion,  but  Brother  Jonathan  has  now  become  a  desig- 
nation of  the  whole  country,  as  John  Bull  has  for  England.    • 

Brown.  To  do  a  thing  up  brown,  is  to  do  it  to  perfection.  A  common 
vulgarism. 

Well,  I  think  Ellen 's  a  doin'  it  up  brown  I  There  'U  be  another  weddin'  soon,  I 
guess. — Southern  Sketches,  p.  57. 

Brown  Stone.  A  dark  variety  of  the  red  sandstone,  now  so  fashionable 
as  a  building  material,  that  its  imitations  in  paint  and  mastic  outdo  the 
original  in  darkness,  and  rows  of  houses  in  some  of  our  cities  are  now  to 
be  seen  almost  black. 

Brown  Thrasher.  (Turdus  rufus.)  The  popular  name  of  the  Ferru- 
ginous Thrush,  called  also  the  Brown  Thrush.  It  is  also  called  the 
Ground  Mocking-bird. 

I  love  the  city  as  dearly  as  a  brown  thrasher  loves  the  green  tree  that  sheltered  its 
young.  —  C.  Mathews,  Works,  p.  125. 

Broughtins  up.  Bringing  up,  educating.  A  vulgar  corruption,  oftea 
used  jocosely. 


BEU  — BUG  51 

I  'm  a  Yankee,  said  Slick,  and  I  ain't  above  ownin'  to  it,  and  so  are  you ;  but  you 
seem  ashamed  of  your  broughtens  up,  and  I  must  say  you  are  no  great  credit  to 
them.  —  S.  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  83. 

Brung,  for  brought.  Used  by  ignorant  persons,  especially  by  blacks,  at 
the  South. 

Brush,  for  brushwood,  is  an  Americanism,  and  moreover  is  not  confined  to 
midergrowth,  but  comprises  also  branches  of  trees. 

Bub  and  Bubbt.       Contractions    for    brother,  often    applied    to    small  /f.fo^./f.. 
boys. 

Bubbler.  A  fish  found  in  all  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  River.  Its  name  is 
derived  from  the  singular  grunting  noise  which  it  makes,  a  noise  which  is 
familiar  to  every  one  who  has  been  much  on  the  Ohio.  —  Flint's 
Mississippi  Valley. 

Buck.  A  frame  or  stand  of  peculiar  construction,  on  which  wood  is  sawn 
for  fuel.    In  New  England  it  is  called  a  Saw-horse. 

Buck.  A  "  buck  nigger  "  is  a  term  often  vulgarly  applied  to  a  negro  man. 
Western.     So  in  London,  a  "  buch  sweep,"  among  the  populace. 

To  Buck.  Used  instead  of  butt,  applied  to  animals  pushing  with  their 
head  and  horns,  and  metaphorically  of  players  at  football  and  such 
games,  pugUists,  etc.     Comp.  Bunt. 

Buck  Beer.  (German,  boch  bier.)  The  strongest  kind  of  German  beer, 
said  to  be  so  called  from  causing  the  drinker  to  caper  like  a  goat  (bock). 
It  is,  of  course,  intoxicating. 

Bucket.  The  term  is  applied,  in  the  South  and  West,  to  all  kinds  of  paUs 
and  cans  holding  over  a  gallon. 

Buckeye.  1.  {^sculus  glabra.)  A  small  tree  growing  on  the  river 
banks  from  West  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  to  Michigan  and  Kentucky, 
the  bark  of  which  exhales  an  unpleasant  odor.  Other  species  have  the 
same  name. 

2.  A  native  of  the   State   of  Ohio,   in   which   the  uSsculus  glabra 
abounds. 

Buckeye  State.  The  State  of  Ohio ;  so  called  from  the  Buckeye-tree, 
which  abounds  there. 

Buck  Fever.  Agitation  of  inexperienced  hunters,  caused  by  seeing  a 
deer,  or  other  large  game. 

Smith  blazed  away  at  the  deer;  but  where  the  ball  went,  mercy  knows.  The  ani- 
mal dashed  forward  and  went  crashing  up  the  hill-side.  Smith  acknowledged  to  a 
severe  attack  of  the  buck  fever.  —  Hammond,  Wild  Northern  Scenes,  p.  127. 


52  BUC— BUF 

Buck-fly.     An  insect  whicli  torments  the  deer  at  certain  seasons. 

BuCKRA.  A  white  man.  A  term  universally  appUed  to  white  men  by  the 
blacks  of  the  African  coast,  the  West  Indies,  and  the  Southern  States. 
Tn  the  language  of  the  Calabar  coast,  huckra  means  devil ;  not,  however, 
in  the  sense  we  apply  to  it,  but  that  of  a  demon,  a  powerful  and  superior 
being.  The  term  swanga  buckra,  often  used  by  the  blacks,  means  an 
elegantly  dressed  white  man  or  dandy.  I  am  indebted  to  the  Rev.  J.  L. 
Wilson,  who  is  familiar  with  the  African  language  alluded  to,  for  the 
etymology  of  this  word. 

Which  country  you  like  best  ?  Buckra  country  very  good,  plenty  for  yam  (food), 
plenty  for  bamboo  (clothing).  Buckra  man  book  larn.  Buckra  man  rise 
early, — he  like  a  cold  morning;  nigger  no  like  cold. —  Carmichad's  West  Indies, 
Vol.  I.  p.  311. 

Great  way  off  at  sea, 

When  at  home  I  binny, 

Buckra  man  take  me 

From  de  coast  ob  Guinea.  —  Song. 

Buckskins.  A  term  applied  to  the  American  troops  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war. 

Comwallis  fought  as  long 's  he  dought, 
An'  did  the  buckskins  claw  him.  —  Burns. 

BucKTAiLS.  The  name  of  a  political  party  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
which  sprung  up  about  the  year  1815.  Its  origin  is  thus  described  by 
Mr.  Hammond :  "  There  was  an  order  of  the  Tammany  Society  who 
wore  in  their  hats,  as  an  insignia,  on  certain  occasions,  a  portion  of  the 
tail  of  the  deer.  They  were  a  leading  order,  and  from  this  circumstance 
the  friends  of  DeWitt  Clinton  gave  those  who  adopted  the  views  of  the 
members  of  the  Tammany  Society,  in  relation  to  him,  the  name  of  BucTc- 
tails  ;  which  name  was  eventually  applied  to  their  friends  and  supporters 
in  the  country.  Hence  the  party  opposed  to  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Clinton  were  for  a  long  time  called  the  "  Bucktail  Party."  —  Polit. 
Hist,  of  New  York,  Vol.  I.  p.  450. 

That  beer  and  those  bucktails  I  never  forget ; 
But  oft,  when  alone  and  unnoticed  by  all, 
I  think.  Is  the  porter-cask  foaming  there  yet. 
Are  the  bucktails  still  swigging  at  Tammany  Hall  1 

Halleck's  Fanny. 

Buffalo.  1.  {JBison  americanus.)  This,  the  most  gigantic  of  the 
indigenous  mammalia  of  America,  once  overspread  the  entire  Northern 
half  of  the  American  continent.  At  the  time  of  the  discovery  by  the 
Spaniards,  an  inhabitant  even  down  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  it  has 
been  beaten  back  by  the  westward  march  of  civilization,  until,  at  the 
present  day,  it  is  only  after  passing  the  giant  JVIissouri  and  the  head- 


BUF  — BUF  53 

waters  of  the  Mississippi,  that  we  find  the  American  Bison  or  Buffalo.  — 
S.  F.  Baird. 

The  term  buffalo  is  often  used  independently  for  "buffalo  robe," 
whence  a  story  is  told  of  two  Englishmen  just  arrived  at  Boston. 
They  ordered  a  sleigh,  having  heard  of  such  a  thing  in  a  general  way, 
without  being  conversant  with  the  particulars.  "  Will  you  have 
one  buffalo  or  two  ? "  asked  the  hostler.  "  Why,"  said  the  Cockney, 
looking  a  little  frightened,  "  we  '11  have  only  one  the  first  time,  as  we  're 
not  used  to  driving  them  !  " 

He  tears  along  behind  him  a  sleigh  of  the  commonest  construction,  furnished  with 
an  ancient  and  fragmentary  buffalo,  which  serves  for  robe  and  cushion  both.  —  The 
Upper  Ten  Thousand,  p.  17. 

2.  A  sort  of  fresh  water  fish  resembling  the  Sucker.  It  is  found  in 
the  JVIississippi  and  other  Southern  rivers. 

Buffalo  Chips.  The  dry  dung  of  the  buffalo,  used  for  fuel  on  the 
prairies,  and  hence  called  by  the  French  bois  de  vache.  The  dtmg  of 
cattle  is  extensively  used  for  the  same  purpose  in  other  parts  of  the 
world.  In  Armenia,  according  to  Mr.  Curzon,  it  is  collected  from  the 
cattle-yards  and  mixed  with  chopped  straw  by  tramping  on  it  with  the 
naked  feet  while  it  is  in  a  moist  state.  It  is  then  cut  into  square  blocks 
and  treasured  up  for  winter's  use,  forming  the  exclusive  fuel,  under  the 
name  of  tezek,  for  all  classes.  In  Thibet  it  is  used  under  the  name  of 
arghol.  Hue,  in  his  travels  in  Mongolia,  describes  its  use  there.  In  fact, 
throughout  all  Tartary  or  Turkestan,  where  there  is  a  deficiency  of  wood, 
this  article  is  in  universal  use  for  fuel.  On  the  woodless  plains  of  Texas, 
New  Mexico,  and  Chihuahua  we  Avere  compelled  to  use  dry  cattle-dung 
for  fuel,  gathering  it  up  near  the  springs  where  we  encamped.  I  saw 
the  Pueblo  Indians  using  it  in  large  heaps  in  baking  their  pottery, 
although  wood  was  accessible.  It  makes  no  smoke,  gives  out  a  great 
heat,  and  lasts  longer  than  wood. 

Buffalo  Clover.  {Trifolium  reflexum  osidi  stoloniferum.)  The  Western 
species  of  clover.  • 

Buffalo  Grass.  (Sesleria  dacti/loides.)  A  species  of  short  grass  from 
two  to  four  inches  high,  covering  the  boundless  prairies  on  which  the 
buffaloes  feed.  A  remarkable  characteristic  of  some  varieties  of  this 
gi-ass  is  that  "  the  blade,  kUled  by  the  frost  of  winter,  is  resuscitated  in 
spring,  and  gradually  becomes  green  from  the  root  up,  without  casting 
its  stubble  or  emitting  new  shoots." 

Buffalo  Nut.    {Pyrvlaria  oleifera.)    Oil  nut.     Western. 

Buffalo-robe.     The  skin  of  the  buffalo,  dressed  for  use. 

5* 


54  BUF  — BUL 

Not  having  time  to  robe  myself  exactly  for  a  daylight  street  walk,  I  donned  a 
buffalo-rohe,  slipped  on  my  boots,  and  put  out.  —  Life  on  the  Prairies. 

Buffalo  Wallow.  A  term  used  on  the  prairies  to  designate  a  sink 
made  by  the  buffalo's  pawing  the  earth  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a 
smooth,  dusty  surface  to  roll  upon.  —  Gregg,  Com.  of  the  Prairies,  Vol.  II. 
p.  37. 

Buffet.  This  name  is  still  applied,  in  the  rural  parts  of  New  England,  to 
a  three-cornered  cupboard. 

Bug.  In  the  United  States,  coleopterous  insects  are  generally  called  hugs  ; 
thus  May  bug,  June  bug,  Golden  bug,  etc.  In  England  they  are  called 
beetles,  and  the  word  bug  is  restricted  to  the  species  found  in  bedding. 
The  Spanish  word  chinch  is  in  more  general  use  at  the  South. 

Buggy.    A  light  waggon  for  one  or  two  horses. 

Lend  me  a  hundred  and  buy  yourself  a  huggy,  —  why  do  n't  you  get  a  huggy,  to 
begin  with  1  — J.  C.  Ned's  Sketches. 

The  day  is  warm,  and  very  muggy. 

And  Mr.  Sled  he  has  a  notion 
That  he  will  take  the  horse  and  buggy 

And  Mrs.  Sled,  to  see  the  ocean. 

Shillaber,  Poems. 

Bugle-weed.  (^Lycopus  virginicus.)  A  plant  which  has  much  reputa- 
tion for  its  medicinal  properties.  It  is  also  known  as  the  Virginian 
Water-horehoimd. 

To  Build  a  Fire,  instead  of  to  make  ajlre,  is  a  common  phrase,  originat- 
ing, probably,  in  the  backwoods,  where  large  fires  are  made  of  logs 
piled  one  above  the  other. 

To  Build  up.     To  erect ;  and  metaphorically,  to  establish. 

In  this  manner  it  was  thought  we  should  sooner  huild  up  a  settlement,  as  the  phrase 
goes.  In  America,  the  reader  should  know,  every  tiling  is  huilt.  The  priest  builds 
up  a  flock ;  the  speculator,  a  fortune ;  the  lawyer,  a  reputation ;  and  the  landlord,  a 
settlement.  —  Cooper,  Satanstoe, 

Mr.  E.  has  never  done  any  thing  to  the  Couri  *  and  Enquirer  to  make  them  hunt 
him  down  or  cast  ridicule  on  him,  while  endeavoring  to  build  up  for  liimself  an  un- 
sullied character  among  his  fellow  men.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  1848. 

Bulger.     Something  uncommonly  large,  a  whopper.     Western. 

"We  soon  came  in  sight  of  New  York ;  and  a  bulger  of  a  place  it  is.  —  Crockett, 
p.  37. 

Bull.  A  stock-exchange  term  for  one  who  buys  stock  on  speculation  for 
time,  i.  e.  agrees  with  the  seller,  called  a  "  bear,"  to  take  a  certain  sum  of 
stock  at  a  futui'e  day  at  a  stated  price ;  if  at  that  day  stock  fetches  more 
than  the  price  agreed  on,  he  receives  the  difference ;  if  it  falls  or  is 


BUL  — BUM  55 

cheaper,  he  either  pays  it,  or  becomes  a  "  lame  duck."  This  description 
of  a  hull,  from  Grose's  Slang  Dictionary,  corresponds  precisely  with  the 
hulls  of  WaU  street,  who  speculate  in  stocks  in  the  same  manner.  See 
Lame  Duck  and  Bear. 

There  was  a  sauve  qui  pent  movement  to-day  in  the  stock  market,  and  the  clique 
of  hulls,  finding  it  impossible  to  stem  the  rush,  gave  up  the  attempt  to  sustain  the 

market,  and  let  things  go  do\vn  with  a  run Such  a  state  of  the  market  as  is 

now  exhibited  is  nearly  as  bad  for  the  bears  as  the  bulls.  — N.  Y,  Tribune,  Dec.  10, 
1845. 

Bull-bat.  Night-hawk ;  whippoorwill.  A  gang  of  blackguard  boys  in 
"Washington  City  have  adopted  this  very  appropriate  name. 

Bull  Briar,  Bamboo  Briar.  A  large  briar  in  the  alluvial  bottoms  of 
the  South-west,  the  root  of  which  contains  a  farinaceous  substance  from 
which  the  Indians  make  bread. 

Bull-nut.     A  large  kind  of  hickory-nut. 

Bullion  State.  The  State  of  Missouri ;  so  called  in  consequence  of  the 
exertions  made  by  its  Senator,  Mr.  Benton,  in  favor  of  a  gold  and  silver 
currency,  in  opposition  to  banks  and  a  paper  currency.  The  honorable 
Senator  was  hence  often  nicknamed  Old  Bullion,  and  the  State  he  repre- 
sented, the  Bullion  State. 

At  the  Democratic  meeting  in  New  York,  June  12,  1848,  to  ratify  the 
nomination  of  Gen.  Cass,  the  Hon.  James  Bowlin,  of  JSIissouri,  in  de- 
nouncing the  Whig  party,  said : 

I  deny  that  the  election  of  1840  was  carried  by  the  people.  It  was  carried  by 
duplicity.  It  was  carried  by  the  unfortunate  state  of  the  times,  which  was  not  the 
result  of  democratic  rule,  and  by  false  charges  against  the  American  democracy ; 
and,  thank  God,  in  my  own  State,  in  the  Bullion  Slate,  they  did  not  succeed  in  de- 
preciating our  majority.  —  N.  Y.  Herald,  June  13,  1848. 

Bull's-eye.     A  small  and  thick  old-fashioned  watch. 

Bully,  adj.  Fine,  capital.  A  low  word,  used  irt  the  same  manner  as  the 
Enghsh  use  the  word  cracJc  ;  as,  "  a  hully  horse,"  "  a  hully  picture." 

The  bully  "  Crystal  Palace  "  passed  up  to  St.  Louis  on  Monday.  We  have  no 
doubt  she  left  papers.  —  Cairo  City  Times. 

Bumble-bee.  An  old  English  name  applied  to  all  the  species  of  Bomhus, 
which  are  very  numerous  in  the  New  as  well  as  in  the  Old  "World. 

Mr.  Groodrich,  in  his  "  Reminiscences,"  describes  a  rehgious  meeting 
in  a  field,  where  his  attention  was  attracted  to  the  extraordiaary  evolu- 
tions of  a  man,  who  was  jumping  and  slapping  himself  with  a  ferocious 
agony  of  exertion,  and  adds,  — 

At  first  I  thought  he  was  mad  ;  but  the  truth  flashed  upon  me  that  he  had  but- 
toned up  a  bumble-bee  in  his  pantaloons  !  —  Vol.  I.  p.  185. 


^, 


^  /!i  t^fL.£^\^_ 


56  BUM— BUN 

Disappointment  carries  a  sting  in  its  tail  as  well  as  a  bumble-bee.  —  Dow's  Sermons, 
Vol.  I.  p.  203. 

Bumper.  That  part  of  the  frame  of  a  railroad  car  which  is  provided 
with  springs  for  an  elastic  material  to  meet  the  shock  of  the  similar  part 
of  the  next  car.     In  England  they  use  the  words  buffer  and  hunter. 

Bunch  grass.  A  species  of  Festuca  which  grows  on  the  plains  of  New 
Mexico. 

To  Bundle.  Mr.  Grose  thus  describes  this  custom  :  "  A  man  and  woman 
lying  on  the  same  bed  with  their  clothes  on ;  an  expedient  practised  in 
America  on  a  scarcity  of  beds,  where,  on  such  occasions,  husbands  and 
parents  frequently  permitted  travellers  to  bundle  with  their  wives  and 
daughters."  —  Dictionary  of  the  Vulffar  Tongue. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Peters,  in  his  "  General  History  of  Connecticut," 
(London,  1781,)  enters  largely  into  the  custom  of  bundling  as  practised 
there.  He  says :  "  Notwithstanding  the  great  modesty  of  the  females  is 
such,  that  it  would  be  accounted  the  greatest  rudeness  for  a  gentleman  to 
speak  before  a  lady  of  a  garter  or  leg,  yet  it  is  thought  but  a  piece  of 
civility  to  ask  her  to  bundle."  The  learned  and  pious  historian  endeav- 
ors to  prove  that  bundling  was  not  only  a  Christian  custom,  but  a  very 
polite  and  prudent  one. 

The  Rev.  Andrew  Bamaby,  who  travelled  in  New  England  in 
1759-60,  notices  this  custom,  which  then  prevailed.  He  thinks  that 
though  it  may  at  first  "  appear  to  be  the  effects  of  grossness  of  character, 
it  will,  upon  deeper  research,  be  found  to  proceed  from  simplicity  and 
innocence." —  Travels,  p.  144. 

Van  Corlear  stopped  occasionally  in  the  villages  to  eat  pumpkin-pies,  dance  at 
country  frolics,  and  bundle  with  the  Yankee  lasses.  —  Knickerbocker,  New  York, 

Bundling  is  said  to  be  practised  in  "Wales.  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  custom  in  former  times,  I  do  not  think  bundling  is  now  practised  any- 
where in  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Masson  describes  a  similar  custom  in  Central  Asia :  "  Many  of 
the  Afghan  tribes  have  a  custom  in  wooing  similar  to  what  in  Wales  is 
known  as  bundling-up,  and  which  they  term  namzat  baze.  The  lover 
presents  himself  at  the  house  of  his  betrothed  with  a  suitable  gift,  and 
in  return  is  allowed  to  pass  the  night  with  her,  on  the  understanding  that 
innocent  endearments  are  not  to  be  exceeded."  —  Journeys  in  Belochistan, 
Afghanistan,  etc.  Vol.  HI.  p.  287. 

BuNCOME,  )      Judge  Halliburton,  of  Nova  Scotia,  thus  explains  this  very 

Bunkum.    )  expressive  word,  which  is  now  as  well  understood  as  any  in 

our  language :  "  AU  over  America,  every  place   likes   to   hear   of  its 

member  of  Congress,  and  see  their  speeches ;  and  if  they  do  n't,  they 


BUN  57 

send  a  piece  to  the  paper,  inquirin'  if  their  members  died  a  natural  death, 
or  was  skivered  "with  a  bowie  knife,  for  they  hante  seen  his  speeches 
lately,  and  his  friends  are  anxious  to  know  his  fate.  Our  free  and  en- 
lightened citizens  do  n't  approbate  silent  members ;  it  do  n't  seem  to  them 
as  if  SquashviUe,  or  Punkinsville,  or  Lumbertown  was  right  represented, 
unless  Squashville,  or  PunkinsviUe,  or  Lumbertown  makes  itself  heard 
and  known,  ay,  and  feared  too.  So  every  feUer,  in  bounden  duty,  talks, 
and  talks  big  too,  and  the  smaller  the  State,  the  louder,  bigger,  and 
fiercer  its  members  talk.  "Well,  when  a  crittur  talks  for  talk  sake,  jist  to 
have  a  speech  in  the  paper  to  send  to  home,  and  not  for  any  other  airthly 
puppus  but  electioneering,  our  folks  call  it  Bunkum" 

The  origin  of  the  phrase,  "  talking  for  Buncombe,"  is  thus  related  in 
Wheeler's  History  of  North  Carolina :  "  Several  years  ago,  in  Congress, 
the  member  from  this  district  arose  to  address  the  House,  without  any  ex- 
traordinary powers,  in  manner  or  matter,  to  interest  the  audience.  Many 
members  left  the  hall.  "Very  naively  he  told  those  who  remained  that 
they  might  go  too ;  he  should  speak  for  some  time,  but  *  he  was  only 
talking  for  BuncomheJ  " 

Mr.  Goodrich,  in  his  pleasant  "  Reminiscences,"  in  describing  his 
native  valleys,  says : 

On  every  side  the  ear  was  saluted  by  the  mocking  screams  of  the  red-headed 
woodpecker,  the  cawing  of  congresses  of  crows,  clamorous  as  if  talking  to  bun- 
combe.  — Vol.  I.  p.  101. 

Mr.  Saxe,  in  his  poem  on  "  Progress,"  speaking  of  the  Halls  of  Con- 
gress, says : — 

Here,  would-be  TuUys  pompously  parade 
Their  tumid  tropes  for  simple  buncombe  made. 
Full  on  the  chair  the  chilhng  torrent  shower. 
And  work  their  word-pumps  through  the  allotted  hour. 
Come  on,  ye  stump  men  eloquent,  in  never-ending  stream. 
Let  office  be  your  glorious  goal,  and  bunkum  be  your  theme ; 
The  vast  and  vaulted  capital  shall  echo  to  your  jaws. 
And  universal  Yankeedom  shall  shout  in  your  applause. 

Am.  Rejected  Addresses,  The  American  Congress. 

The  House  of  Representatives  broke  down  upon  the  corruption  committee's  bill 
to  protect  the  integrity  of  members  of  Congress,  having  first  passed  it  for  buncombe. 
—  N.  Y.  Tribune,  March  2,  1857. 

Here  is  an  amusing  biography  of  Gen.  Houston,  bulky  in  size,  capital  in  paper, 
and  evidently  got  up  for  buncombe.  — New  York  Tribune. 

Our  people  talk  a  great  deal  of  nonsense  about  emancipation,  but  they  know  it  'a 
all  buncombe.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  175. 

BuNGO.     A  kind  of  boat  used  at  the  South. 

The  most  urgent  steps  were  being  taken  to  press  every  bungo  and  canoe  to  the 


58  BUN  — BUR 

immediate  relief  of  the  people  along  the  coast,  in  order  to  embark  them  without 
delay.  —  N.  0.  Picayune. 

BuNGTO  WN  Copper.  A  spurious  coin,  of  base  metal,  a  very  clumsy  coun- 
terfeit of  the  English  halfpenny  or  copper.  It  derived  its  name  from 
the  place  where  it  was  first  manufactured,  then  called  Bungtown,  now 
Bameysville,  in  the  town  of  Rehoboth,  Mass.  The  Bungtown  copper 
never  was  a  legal  coin.  The  British  halfpenny  or  copper  was.  The 
term  is  used  only  in  New  England. 

These  flowers  would  n't  fetch  a  Bungtown  copper.  — Margaret,  p.  19. 
Anti-slavery  professions  just  before  an  election  ain't  worth  a  Bungtown  copper.  — 
Biglow  Papers,  p.  147. 

The  last  thing  I  remember  [having  been  tipsy]  was  trying  to  pay  my  fare  with  a 
Bungtown-copper. — Doesticks,  p.  62. 

Bunk.  1.  (Ang.  Sax.  henc,  a  bench,  a  form.)  A  wooden  case,  used  in 
country  taverns  and  in  offices,  which  serves  alike  for  a  seat  during  the  day 
and  for  a  bed  at  night.  The  name  is  also  applied  to  the  tiers  of  standing 
bed-places  used  in  the  lowest  class  of  lodging-houses. 

Dr.  Jamieson  has  the  word  hunker,  a  bench  or  sort  of  low  chests,  that 
serve  for  seats  —  also,  a  seat  in  the  window,  which  serves  for  a  chest, 
opening  with  a  hinged  Hd.  —  Etym.  Diet.  Scottish  Language. 

Ithers  frae  off  the  bunkers  sank, 

We  e'en  like  the  collops  scor'd.  —  Ramsay's  Poems,  Vol.  I.  p.  280. 

In  some  parts  of  Scotland,  a  bunker  or  bunkart,  which  Dr.  Jamieson 
thinks  to  be  the  same  word,  means  an  earthen  seat  in  the  fields.  In  the 
North  of  England,  a  seat  in  front  of  a  house,  made  of  stones  or  sods,  is 
called  a  bink. 

2.  A  piece  of  wood  placed  on  a  lumberman's  sled  to  enable  it  to  sus- 
tain the  end  of  heavy  pieces  of  timber.  —  Maine. 

To  Bunk.     To  retire  to  bed  in  a  bunk. 

Bunkum.     See  Buncome. 

To  Bunt.  To  push  with  the  horns,  to  butt.  Used  also  in  the  "West  of 
England. 

Bureau.     1.  The  name  commonly  given,  in  America,  to  a  chest  of  di'awers. 
2.  A  subdivision  of  one  of  the  government  departments,  as  the  "  Indian 
Bureau,"  the  "  Pension  Bureau,"  etc. 

BuRGALOO.     (Fr.     Virgalieu.)     A  superior  kind  of  pear. 

BuRGALL.  ( Gtenolabrus  ceruleus.)  A  small  fish,  very  common  in  New 
York ;  also  found  on  the  coast  of  New  England,  and  as  far  south  as 
Delaware  Bay.  The  usual  length  is  about  six  inches,  though  they  are 
sometimes  found  twelve  inches.     Other  names  for  the  same  fish  are  Nib- 


BUR— BUS  59 

bier,  from  its  nibbling  off  the  bait  when  thrown  for  other  fishes ;  Chogset, 
the  Indian  name;  and  ia  New  England,  those  of  Blue  Perch  and 
Conner. 

Burgee.    A  large  flag  at  the  mast-head  of  a  merchant-man. 

Her  masts  were  lofty,  with  sails  furl'd,  and  a  large  burgee  was  streaming  out  from 
the  topmast-head.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  73. 

To  Burn  up.  In  correct  English,  papers,  haystacks,  briars,  etc.,  are 
burned  up.  The  grass  is  also  said  to  be  burned  up  by  drought ;  but  it  is 
hardly  proper  to  say,  that  such  a  man  was  ruined  by  being  burned  up. 
" Mr.  Smith's  factory  was  burned  up"  it  should  be  " burned  down ;  "  and, 
applied  to  a  man,  "  burned  out." 

Burr-oak.  ( Quercus  macrocarpa.)  A  beautiful  tree,  more  than  sixty 
feet  iu  height,  laden  with  dark  tufted  foliage.  It  is  found  mostly  beyond 
the  AUeghanies,  in  the  fertile  districts  of  Kentucky  and  "West  Tennessee, 
and  in  Upper  Louisiana  near  the  IVIissouri.  It  is  also  called  Overcup 
White  Oak.  —  Michaux. 

The  trees,  with  very  few  exceptions,  were  what  is  called  the  burr-oak,  a  small 
variety  of  a  very  extensive  genus  ;  and  the  spaces  between  them,  always  uTCgular 
and  often  of  singtilar  beauty,  have  obtained  the  name  of  "  openings."  — Cooper,  The 
Oak  Openings. 

Burr-stone.  A  species  of  silex  or  quartz  occurring  in  amorphous  masses, 
partly  compact,  but  containing  many  irregular  cavities.  It  is  used  for 
mill-stones. —  Cleveland's  Mineralogy. 

BuRSTED.  A  form  of  the  past  tense  and  participle  frequently  employed 
instead  of  the  correct  form,  burst. 

Bush.  (Dutch,  bosch,  a  wood.)  The  woods,  a  forest,  or  a  thicket  of  trees 
or  bushes.  This  term,  which  is  much  used  in  the  Northern  States  and 
Canada,  probably  originated  in  New  York. 

Bush-bean.  (Phaseolus  vulgaris.)  The  useful  vegetable,  brought  origi- 
nally from  Asia  and  long  cultivated  in  Europe,  called  in  England  Kid- 
ney-bean and  French  Bean.  With  us  they  are  also  called  String-beans 
and  Snap-beans,  or  Snaps. 

Bushwhacker.  1.  One  accustomed  to  beat  about  or  travel  through 
bushes;  a  clod-hopper,  raw  countryman,  green-horn. 

Do  you  think  all  our  eastern  dignitaries  combined  could  have  compelled  young 
bushwhackers  to  wear  coats  and  shoes  in  recitation  rooms  1  —  Carlton,  New  Purchase, 
Vol.  n.  p.  87. 

The  Van  B s  of  Nyack  were  the  first  that  did  ever  kick  with  the  left  foot; 

they  were  gallant  bushwhackers,  and  hunters  of  raccoons  by  moonlight.  —  Knicker- 
bocker's New  York. 


60  BUS  — BUT 

'Every  bushwhacker  and  forest  ranger  thought  he  knew  where  to  find  the  trees.  —  S. 
Slick,  Nature  and  Human  Nature,  p.  15. 

2.  A  scythe  or  othei  instrument  used  for  cutting  brush  or  bushes. 
I  know  not  the  victim  soon  destined  to  fall  before  the  keen-edged  bushwhacker  of 
Time,  or  I  would  point  him  out.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I. 

Bushwhacking.     Travelling  or  pulling  through  bushes. 

The  propelling  power  of  the  keel-boat  is  by  oars,  sails,  setting-poles,  the  cordelle, 
and,  when  the  waters  are  high  and  the  boat  runs  on  the  margin  of  the  bushes,  bush- 
whacking,  or  pulling  up  by  the  bushes.  — Flint's  Hist,  and  Geogr.  of  Miss.  Valley. 

Bust.  1.  A  burst,  failure.  The  following  conundrum  went  the  rounds  of 
the  papers  at  the  time  the  Whig  party  failed  to  elect  Mr.  Clay  to  the 
presidency :  "  Why  is  the  Whig  party  like  a  sculptor  ?  Because  it  takes 
Clay,  and  makes  a  bust." 

2.  A  frolic ;  a  spree.     Vulgar. 

And  when  Ave  get  our  pockets  full 

Of  this  bright,  sliinin'  dust, 
"We  '11  travel  straiglit  for  home  again, 

And  spend  it  on  a  bust.  —  California  Song. 

To  Bust.     To  burst ;  to  fail  in  business.     This  vulgar  pronunciation  of 
the  word  burst  is  very  common. 

I  was  soon  fotch'd  up  in  the  victualling  line  —  and  I  biisted  for  the  benefit  of  my 
creditors.  — J.  C.  Neal,  Dolly  Jones. 

When  merchants  fondly  trust  to  paper, 

And  find  too  late  that  banks  betray. 
What  art  can  help  them  through  the  scrape,  or 

Suggest  the  means  wherewith  to  pay  1 

The  only  way  to  stop  each  croaker, 

And  pay  the  banks  to  whom  they  tnist ; 
To  bring  repentance  to  the  broker, 

And  wring  his  bosom,  is  "  to  bust."  — N.  Y.  Evening  Post, 

Buster.     1.  A  roistering  blade,  a  dashing  fellow. 

I  went  on,  laming  something  every  day,  until  I  was  reckoned  a  buster,  and 
allowed  to  be  the  best  bar-hunter  in  my  district.  —  Thorpe,  Big  Bear  of  Arkansas. 

2.  A  frolic,  a  spree. 

Butcher-bird.     See  Nine-hiller. 

Butt.     1.  The  small  pipe  affixed  to  the  hose  of  a  fire-engine. 

2.  The  buttocks.  The  word  is  used  in  the  West  in  such  phrases  as, 
« I  fell  on  my  butt,"  " He  kick'd  my  butt"  In  the  West  of  England  it 
denotes  a  buttock  of  beef. 

To  Butt.     To  oppose.     South-west. 

Butte.     (French.)     This  word  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  books  that 


BUT  — BUY  61 

relate  to  the  Rocky  Mountain  and  Oregon  regions,  "  where,"  says  Col. 
Fremont,  "  it  is  naturalized,  and  if  desirable  to  render  into  English,  there 
is  no  word  which  would  be  its  precise  equivalent.  It  is  applied  to  the 
detached  hills  and  ridges  which  rise  abruptly,  and  reach  too  high  to  be 
called  hills  or  ridges,  and  not  high  enough  to  be  called  mountains.  Knob, 
as  applied  in  the  Western  States,  is  their  most  descriptive  term  in  Eng- 
lish ;  but  no  translation  or  paraphrasis  would  preserve  the  identity  of 
these  picturesque  landmarks."  —  JExped.  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  p. 
145. 

Sir  Geo.  Simpson,  in  his  "  Overland  Journey  round  the  "World,"  when 
traversing  the  Red  River  country,  west  of  Hudson's  Bay,  speaks  of  a 
conspicuous  landmark  in  the  sea  of  plains,  known  as  the  Butte  aux 
Chiens,  ....  towering  with  a  height  of  about  four  hundred  feet  over  a 
boundless  prairie  as  level  and  smooth  as  a  pond.  —  Vol.  I.  p.  54. 

On  entering  the  broken  ground,  the  creek  turns  more  to  the  westward,  and  passes 
by  two  remarkable  buttes  of  a  red  conglomerate,  which  appear  at  a  distance  like 
tables  cut  in  the  mountain  side.  — Ruxton's  Mexico  and  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  241. 

BuTTER-BiRD.     See  Bobolink. 

Butternut.  (Juglans  cinerea.)  The  tree  resembles  the  black  walnut, 
yet  the  wood  is  sometimes  called  white  walnut. 

Buttoning  up.  A  "Wall  street  phrase.  "When  a  broker  has  bought 
stock  on  speculation  and  it  falls  suddenly  on  his  hands,  whereby  he  is  a 
loser,  he  keeps  the  matter  to  himself,  and  is  reluctant  to  confess  the 
ownership  of  a  share.  This  is  called  buttoning  up.  —  A  Walk  in  Wall 
Street,  p,  47. 

Button  Bush.  i^Gephalanthus  occidentalis.)  A  shrub  which  grows 
along  the  water  side,  its  insulated  thickets  furnishing  a  safe  retreat  for 
the  nests  of  the  blackbird.  Its  flowers  appear  at  a  distance  like 
the  balls  of  the  sycamore  tree  ;  hence  its  name.  —  Bigelow,  Flora 
Bostoniensis. 

Buttonwood  or  Button  Tree.  (Platanus  occidentalis.)  The  popular 
name,  in  New  England,  of  the  sycamore  tree  ;  so  called  from  the  balls  it 
bears,  the  receptacle  of  the  seeds,  which  remain  on  the  trees  during  the 
winter.  —  Michaux's  Sylva.     Sometimes  called  Button-ball  tree. 

Buyer's  Option.  A  purchaser  of  stocks  at  the  broker's  board,  buyer's 
option,  thirty,  sixty,  or  ninety  days,  can  call  for  the  stock  any  day  within 
that  time,  or  wait  until  its  expiration.  He  pays  interest  at  the  rate- 
of  six  per  cent,  up  to  the  time  he  calls.  A  purchase  on  buyer's- 
option  is  generally  a  fraction  above  the  cash  price.  —  Hunt's  Merchants 
Mag.,  Vol.  37. 

6 


62  BUZ  — CAC 

Buzzard.  A  name  given  to  several  kinds  of  hawks  indigenous  to  America, 
as  the  Black-Buzzard  (Falco  harlani),  the  Red-tailed  Hawk  or  Buzzard 
(Falco  horealis),  and  the  Short- winged  Buzzard,  or  Great  Hen-Hawk 
{Falco  buteoides).     See  also  Turkey-Buzzard. 

By  and  again.     Occasionally,  now  and  then.     A  Southern  expression. 

Bt-bidder.  a  person  employed  at  public  auctions  to  bid  on  articles  put 
up  for  sale,  to  enhance  the  price. 

By  THE  Name  op.  Some  persons  will  say,  "  I  met  to-day  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Smith."  An  Enghshman  would  say  "  of  the  name,"  etc. ;  ex- 
cept in  such  phrases  as  "  He  went  by  the  name  of  Smith." 


C. 

Cabbage-tree.  (Palma  altissima.)  A  palm  tree  found  in  East  Florida. 
From  its  pith  very  good  sago  is  made,  and  its  long  trunks  serve  for  pipes 
to  convey  water  underground.  —  JBartram^s  Florida  Journal. 

Caberes.  (Span,  cabestro,  a  halter.)  A  rope  made  of  hair,  used  for 
catching  wild  horses  and  cattle.  It  is  used  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
"  lariat,"  which  is  made  of  raw  hide.  These  two  words  are  in  common 
use  in  Louisiana  and  Texas,  and  imply  what  is,  at  the  North,  termed  a 
lasso. 

Bill  Stone  had  his  rifle  for  himself  and  a  strong  cdberos  for  his  horse,  and  so  did  n't 
bother  anybody  about  feeding.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times,  Western  Tale. 

Caboodle..  The  whole  caboodle  is  a  common  expression,  meaning  the 
whole  lot.  I  know  not  the  origin  of  the  word.  It  is  used  in  all  the 
Northern  States  and  New  England.  The  word  boodle  is  used  in  the 
same  manner. 

They  may  recommend  to  the  electors  of  Hamilton  county  to  disregard  so  much 
of  the  law  as  constitutes  two  election  districts  of  Hamilton  county.  Having  done 
this,  Medary  will  be  looking  out  for  a  job ;  Olds  will  be  often  in  Fairfield  cozening 
for  a  nomination  to  Congress ;  and  the  whole  caboodle  will  act  upon  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  Ohio  Sun,  and  endeavor  to  secure  a  triumph  in  the  old  fashion  way.  — 
Ohio  State  Journal. 

Cacao.  The  fruit  of  the  cacao-tree  (Theobroma  cacao),  of  which  choco- 
late is  made ;  hence  also  called  Chocolate-nuts,  commonly  spelled  and  pro- 
nounced Cocoa. 

Cache.  (French.)  A  hole  in  the  ground  for  hiding  and  preserving  pro- 
visions which  it  is  inconvenient  to  carry.  Travellers  across  the  prairies, 
hunters,  and  the  settlers  in  the  far  West,  often  resort  to  this  means  for 
preserving  their  provisions.    In  the  author's  journey  to  CaUfomia,  owing 


CAC  — CAL  63 

to  the  loss  of  animals,  the  contents  of  a  wagon  were  cached  on  the  banks 
of  the  Gila,  and  camp-fires  built  over  the  opening,  that  the  Indians  might 
not  discover  it.  It  was  opened  the  following  year,  and  every  thing  found 
in  good  order. 

I  took  advantage  of  a  detached  heap  of  stones,  to  make  a  cache  of  a  bag  of  pem- 
mican.  —  Bach,  Journal  of  an  Arctic  Voyage. 

The  cache,  which  I  had  relied  so  much  upon,  was  entirely  destroyed  by  the  bears. 
—  Dr.  Kane,  Arctic  Eocplorations,  Vol.  I. 

To  Cache.     To  hide  or  conceal  in  the  ground. 

We  returned  to  camp  and  cached  our  meat  and  packs  in  the  forks  of  a  cotton-wood 
tree  out  of  reach  of  wolves.  — Ruxton's  Adventures  in  New  Mexico. 

When  Dr.  Hovey's  party  reached  Mann's  Fort,  they  were  wellnigh  exhausted. 
The  fort  was  vacant,  but  after  much  search  they  found  plenty  of  salt  pork,  wliich  had 
been  cached  by  its  former  occupants.  —  New  York  Tribune. 

Cachunk  !  A  word  like  thump  !  describing  the  sound  produced  by  the 
fall  of  a  heavy  body.  Also  written  kerchunk!  A  number  of  fanciful 
onomatopoetic  words  of  this  sort  are  used  in  the  South  and  "West ;  in  all 
of  which  the  first  syllable,  which  is  unaccented,  is  subject  to  the  same 
variety  of  spelling.     These  words  are  of  recent  origin. 

Cacique,  or  Cazique.  (W.  Ind.  cazic,  cachic.)  A  chief,  or  king,  among 
the  aborigines  of  the  West  India  Islands.  This,  like  other  terms  of  the 
sort,  has  been  extended  by  the  whites  beyond  its  original  limits. 

Cacomite.  a  name  for  the  bulbous  root  of  a  species  of  Tigridia  from 
which  a  good  flour  is  prepared,  in  Mexico. 

Cahoot.  (Perhaps  Fr.  cohorte,  a  company,  band.)  It  is  used  in  the 
South  and  West  to  denote  a  company,  or  partnership. 

Pete  Hopkins  aint  no  better  than  he  should  be,  and  I  would  n't  swar  he  was  n't  in 
cahoot  with  the  devil.  —  Chronicles  of  Pineville. 

I  'd  have  no  objection  to  go  in  cahoot  with  a  decent  fellow  for  a  character,  but 
have  no  funds  to  purchase  on  my  own  account.  — New  Orleans  Picayune. 

The  hoosier  took  him  aside,  told  him  there  was  a  smart  chance  of  a  pile  on  one 
of  the  [card]  tables,  and  that  if  he  liked  he  would  go  in  with  him  —  in  cahoot !  — 
Field,  Western  Tales. 

To  Cahoot.     To  act  in  partnership. 

Commodore  Morgan  sells  out  his  interest  to  Com.  Garrison  in  the  Nicaragua 
line,  and  Garrison  settles  his  difficulties  with  Com.  Vanderbilt,  and  they  all  agree  to 
cahoot  with  their  claims  against  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica.  —  New  York  Herald, 
May  20,  1857. 

Calabash.  1.  A  large  gourd,  the  fruit  of  the  Cucurbita  lagenaria,  or 
calabash  vine. 

2.  {Grescentia  cujete.^     A  gourd  that  grows  upon  trees  in  Spanish 
America  and  the  West  Indies.     The  fruit  is  large  and  round,  and  serves 


64  CAL— CAL 

for  bowls.  That  of  another  species  or  variety  is  oval,  and  furnishes 
drinking-cups  and  chocolate-cups.  In  South  America,  the  name  is  To- 
tuma  ;  in  Central  America,  Jicara  ;  and  in  Cuba,  Guira. 

3.  A  humorous  name  for  the  head,  generally  implying  emptiness ;  as, 
"  he  broke  his  calabash." 

Calaboose.  (Fr.  calabouse.  Span,  calabozo.)  In  the  South-western 
States,  the  common  jail  or  prison. 

Tliere  's  no  peace  in  a  steamer,  it  is  notliing  but  a  large  calaboose  chock  full  of 
prisoners.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature. 

To  Calaboose.     To  imprison.     South-western. 

We  have  a  special  telegraphic  despatch  from  St.  Louis,  giving  tlie  information 
that  Col.  Titus,  late  of  Nicaragua,  now  claiming  to  be  of  Kansas,  was  calahoosed  on 
Tuesday  for  shooting  at  the  porter  of  the  Planters'  House.  —  Cincinnati  Commer- 
cial, 1857. 

Calash.  (Fr.  caleche.)  1.  A  two-wheeled  carriage,  resembhng  a  chaise, 
used  in  Canada. 

2.  A  covering  for  the  head,  usually  worn  by  ladies  to  protect  their 
headdresses  when  going  to  evening  parties,  the  theatre,  etc.  It  is  formed 
of  hoops  after  the  manner  of  a  chaise-top,  and  is  in  England,  very  appro- 
priately, called  an  ugly. 

To  Calculate.  This  word,  which  properly  means  to  compute,  to  esti- 
mate, has  been  erroneously  transferred  from  the  language  of  the  count- 
ing-house to  that  of  common  life,  where  it  is  used  for  the  words  to 
esteem  ;  to  suppose ;  to  believe ;  to  think ;  to  expect ;  intend,  etc.  It  is 
employed  in  a  similar  way  to  the  word  guess,  though  not  to  so  great  an 
extent.     Its  use  is  confined  to  the  illiterate  of  New  England. 

Mr.  Cram  requested  those  persons  who  calculated  to  join  the  singin'  school  to 
come  forward.  —  Knickerbocker  Mag.  Vol.  XVII. 

Calf-kill.  (Kalmia  angustifoUa.)  A  plant,  so  called  from  its  poisonous 
properties,  which  are,  however,  not  so  great  as  the  name  imports.  Also 
called  Lamb-kill  and  Sheep  Laurel. 

Calibogus.     Rum  and  spruce-beer.     An  American  beverage.  —  Grose. 

Calico.  The  word  was  originally  applied  to  white  cottons  from  India. 
In  England,  white  cotton  goods  are  still  called  calicoes.  In  the  United 
States,  the  term  is  applied  exclusively  to  printed  cotton  cloth. 

Call.  An  invitation  from  the  vestry  of  a  church  to  a  clergyman  to  oc- 
cupy their  pulpit  is  technically  termed  a  call,  the  loudness  of  which  call 
is  considered  to  be  in  a  direct  ratio  to  the  salary  offered. 

The  renowned  Mr.  Dow,  Jr.,  at  the  close  of  one  of  his  sermons, 
said: 


CAL  — CAL  65 

I  hare  observed  that  a  great  many  country  people  have  lately  joined  my  congre- 
gation. Let  the  good  work  go  on !  I  hope  to  coax  a  few  more  such  sheep  into  my 
fold  before  I  preach  my  farewell  sermon ;  and  that  may  be  pretty  soon,  as  I  have 
had  a  loud  $600  call  elsewhere.  —  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  317. 

Callithumpiaxs.  It  was  a  common  practice  in  New  York,  as  well  as 
other  parts  of  the  country,  on  New  Year's  eve,  for  persons  to  assemble 
with,  tin  horns,  bells,  rattles,  and  simUar  euphonious  instruments,  and 
parade  the  streets,  making  all  the  noise  and  discord  possible.  This  party- 
was  called  the  CalUthumpians,  or  the  Callithumpian  hand.  Fortu- 
nately the  custom  has  now  fallen  almost,  if  not  entirely,  into  disuse. 

Call-loans.  Loans  on  call  are  loans  of  money  where  the  borrower 
obligates  himself  to  pay  at  any  moment  when  called  for.  Banks  having 
large  deposits  which  are  liable  to  be  called  for  any  day,  often  loan  money 
at  less  than  the  ordinary  rates  in  this  way  to  brokers. 

To  speculate  in  fancy  stocks  on  call  loans  is  simply  to  put  your  hand  in  the 
lion's  mouth,  or  yourself  in  the  hands  of  a  Shylock,  with  the  expectation  of  getting 
out  without  being  fleeced.  —  New  York  Herald. 

Calls.  Operations  of  this  kind  are  made  generally  by  those  "  curb-stone 
brokers "  who  are  under  the  impression  that  higher  prices  will  soon  rule 
in  certain  stocks.  A  speculator  is  desirous  of  making  a  little  operation, 
and  he  offers  to  give  $50  for  the  privilege  of  calling  for  100  shares  New 
York  Central  Railroad  stock  at  91  per  cent,  in  ten  or  fifteen  days.  The 
price  fixed  on  the  part  of  the  buyer  is  always  a  fraction  above  the  cash 
price.  K  the  stock  goes  down  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty  per  cent.,  the  party 
buying  the  call  can  only  lose  $50.  If  it  goes  up  to  91^,  he  gets  his 
money  back,  and  aU  above  that  is  so  much  profit.  This  business  is  con- 
fined almost  entirely  to  the  curb-stone  brokers  —  it  is  a  species  of  betting 
about  on  a  par  with  "  roulette."  —  Hunt's  Merchant's  Mag.,  1857. 

Calumet.  (Old  Fr.)  Among  the  aboriginals  of  America,  a  pipe,  used 
for  smoking  tobacco,  whose  bowl  is  usually  of  soft  red  marble,  and  the 
tube  a  long  reed,  ornamented  with  feathers.  The  calumet  is  used  as  a 
symbol  or  instrument  of  peace  and  war.  To  accept  the  calumet  is  to 
agree  to  the  terms  of  peace ;  and  to  refuse  it  is  to  reject  them.  The 
calumet  of  peace  is  used  to  seal  or  ratify  contracts  and  alliances,  to  re- 
ceive strangers  kindly,  and  to  travel  with  safety.  The  calumet  of  war, 
differently  made,  is  used  to  proclaim  war.  —  Webster,  Die. 

As  soon  as  we  sat  down,  the  Illinois  [Indians]  presented  us,  according  to  custom, 
their  calumet,  which  one  must  needs  accept,  or  else  he  would  be  looked  upon  as  an 
open  enemy  or  a  mere  brute.  — Marquette,  1673. 

The  savages  make  use  of  the  calumet  in  all  their  negotiations  and  state  affairs ; 
for  when  they  have  a  calumet  in  their  hand,  they  go  where  they  wiU  in  safety.  —  La 
Houtan. 

6* 


66  CAM— CAN 

Camp-meeting.  A  meeting  held  in  the  wood  or  field  for  religious  pur- 
poses, where  the  assemblage  encamp  and  remain  several  days.  These 
meetings  are  generally  held  by  the  Methodists.  The  Mormons  caU  it  a 
Wood-meeting. 

Camp  out.     To  encamp  out  of  doors  for  the  night. 

The  surveying  party  did  not  always  return  to  the  hut  at  night,  but  it  camped  out, 
as  they  called  it,  whenever  the  work  led  them  to  a  distance.  —  Cooper,  Satanstoe, 
Vol.  II.  p.  88. 

Campbellite.  a  follower  of  the  doctrines  of  Alexander  Campbell.  See 
Christian. 

Canada  Balsam.     See  Balsam  Fir. 

Canada  Nettle.     See  Albany  Hemp. 

Canada  Rice.  {Zizania  aquatica.)  A  plant  which  grows  in  deep 
water  along  the  edges  of  ponds  and  sluggish  streams,  in  the  Northern 
States  and  Canada.  It  is  called,  in  some  places,  Wild  Rice  and  Water 
Oats. 

Cancer  Root.  A  species  of  orolanche  of  Linnoeus.  Yellowish  plants, 
famous  as  ingredients  in  "  cancer  powders." 

Cane-brake.  A  thicket  of  canes.  They  abound  in  the  low  lands  from 
South  Carolina  to  Louisiana. 

Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  bar  bustin'  in  through  a  cane-irake,  and  know  how  near  a 
hurrycane  it  is  1  —  Story  of  the  Bear  Hunter. 

Cane-meadow.     The  Carolinian  name  for  a  cane-brake.  —  Bartram. 

Cane-trash.     See  Bagasse. 

Caney.  Caney  Fork  or  Branch  is  a  frequent  name  for  streams  in  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee,  undoubtedly  from  canes  having  grown  there  for- 
merly, although  now  extirpated. 

<5anker-rash.     The  disease  called  Scarlatina. 

Canoe.  (West  Indian,  canahua,  canoa.)  An  Indian  boat  made  of  bark  or 
skins. 

Cant-hook.  A  wooden  lever  with  an  iron  hook  at  one  end,  with  which 
heavy  articles  of  merchandise  or  timber  are  canted  over.  Sometimes 
called  Can-hook. 

Can't  come  it,  is  a  vulgar  expression  for  cannot  do  it.  "  You  can't  come 
it  over  me  so,"  i.  e.  you  cannot  take  such  an  advantage  of  me.  Mr. 
Hamilton  notices  this  expression  among  the  provincialisms  of  Yorkshire. 
—Nugce  lAterarice,  p.  353. 


CAN— CAP  67 

The  following  dialogue  is  reported  to  have  occurred  in  a  crowded  New 
York  omnibus : 

Old  Gent.  Let  me  take  you  on  my  lap. 
Woman.    No,  you  can't  come  that,  old  chap ; 
He  that  takes  that  task  to  do 
Must  be  some  likelier  one  than  you. 

Cantelope,  Cantelupe,  or  Canteleupe.  (  Cucumis  melo.)  A  species 
of  muskmelon. 

Canticoy,  or  Cantica.  An  Iroquois  Indian  word,  denoting  a  social  gather- 
ing or  dancing  assembly.  It  is  stUl  used  by  aged  people  in  New  York 
and  on  Long  Island. 

At  their  canticas,  or  dancing  matches,  where  all  persons  that  come  are  freely  en- 
tertained, it  being  a  festival  time. — Denton's  Description  of  New  York,  1670. 

Canvas-back.  {Anas  valisneriana.')  A  wild  duck,  found  chiefly  in  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  and  its  tributaries,  and  highly  esteemed  for  the  delicacy 
of  its  flesh.     It  derives  its  name  from  the  color  of  its  back. 

Canyon.  (Span,  canon.)  A  narrow,  tunnel-like  passage  between  high 
and  precipitous  banks,  foiTned  by  mountains  or  table-lands,  often  with  a 
river  running  beneath.  These  occur  in  the  great  Western  prairies.  In 
New  Mexico  and  California  they  are  very  common. 

The  Platte  forces  its  way  through  a  baxrier  of  table-lands,  forming  one  of  those 
striking  peculiarities  incident  to  mountain  streams,  called  a  canon.  —  /Scenes  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  p.  111. 

The  river  Gila  comes  in  [to  the  Colorado]  nearly  at  right  angles,  and  the  point  of 
junction,  strangely  chosen,  is  the  hard  butte  through  which,  with  their  united  forces, 

they  cut  a  canon,  and  then  flow  off  due  west,  etc The  walls'  of  the  carwn  are 

vertical,  and  about  fifty  feet  high,  and  1,000  feet  long. — Emory's  New  Mexico  and 
California,  p.  95. 

To  Cap  all.     To  surpass  all ;  to  cap  the  climax. 

Well,  the  horse  got  stuck  in  one  of  them  snowbanks,  and  there  we  sot  unable  to 
stir ;  and  to  cap  all.  Deacon  Bedott  was  took  with  a  dreadful  crick  in  his  back.  — 
Widow  Bedott  Papers. 

To  Cap  the  Climax  is  to  surpass  every  thing.  Old  English.  A  letter 
from  Mexico,  in  speaking  of  the  excesses  of  the  American  soldiers,  says  : 

Several  robberies  were  committed  by  them  at  Jalapa,  but  at  Cantepec  they  robbed 
almost  every  house,  and,  to  cap  the  climax,  robbed  the  chiu-ch.  —  Alexandria  Gazette. 

The  western  hunter,  when  he  wishes  to  cap  the  climax  of  braggadocio  with  respect 
to  his  own  prowess,  says,  "  he  can  whip  his  weight  in  wild-cats."  —  Thorpe's  Back- 
woods. 

Cap-sheaf.  A  small  sheaf  of  straw  forming  the  top  of  a  stack.  —  Dorset 
Glossary.  Figuratively  used,  in  the  United  States,  to  denote  the  highest 
degree,  the  summit 


68  CAP  — CAP 

Of  all  the  days  that  I  ever  did  see  in  this  'ere  world,  moving-day  in  New  York  ia 
the  capsheaf.  — Maj.  Downing,  May-day  in  New  York,  p.  43. 

There 's  one  manufacture  in  New  England  that  might  stump  all  Europe  to  pro- 
duce the  like  —  the  manufacture  of  wooden  nutmegs.  That 's  a  capsheaf  that  bangs 
the  bush.  —  Sam  Slick. 

Sam  Pendergrass's  wife  has  been  tcllin'  me  about  the  party  ;  and  of  all  the  strains 
ever  I  heard  on,  I  should  think  that  the  capsheaf.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  88. 

Cape  May  Goody.  The  name  given,  on  the  Jersey  coast,  to  the  Lafayette 
fish. 

Captain's  Beat.  The  limits  within  which  the  members  of  a  military 
company  reside.  "Within  the  same  limits  the  votes  are  received  on  elec- 
tion days.     Southern. 

Caption.  This  legal  term  is  used  in  the  newspapers  in  cases  where  an 
Englishman  would  say  title,  head,  or  heading. 

To  Captivate,  v.  a.  (Lat.  eaptivo;  Fr.  captiver.')  To  take  prisoner  ;  to 
bring  into  bondage.  —  Johnson.  To  seize  by  force ;  as  an  enemy  in 
war.  —  Webster. 

How  ill-becoming  is  it  in  thy  sex, 

To  triumph  like  an  Amazonian  trull 

Upon  their  woes,  whom  fortune  captivates.  —  Shakspeare. 

They  stand  firm,  keep  out  the  enemy,  truth,  that  would  captivate  or  disturb 
them.  —  Locke. 

The  unnatural  brethren  who  sold  their  brother  into  captivity  are  now  about  to  be 
captivated  themselves,  and  the  binder  himself  to  be  bound  in  his  turn.  —  Dr.  Adam 
Clarke,  Reflec.,  4th  Genesis. 

I  have  an  English  engraving  published  in  1756,  entitled  "A  Prospec- 
tive View  of  the  Battle  fought  near  Lake  George,  8th  September,  1755," 
....  in  which  the  English  were  victorious,  captivating  the  French 
general  with  a  number  of  his  men,  and  putting  the  rest  to  flight. 

In  his  remarks  on  this  word,  Mr.  Pickering  says  it  was  new  to  him, 
and  that  he  had  never  seen  it  in  the  newspapers.  Subsequently,  how- 
ever, he  discovered  it  in  two  or  three  of  our  authors.  It  cannot  be  said 
to  be  in  use  among  writers  at  the  present  day.  It  is  well  known,  that 
Congress,  in  adopting  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  prepared  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  omitted  certain  passages  contained  in  the  original  draft. 
Among  these  was  the  following  paragraph  relating  to  the  slave-trade : 

He  has  waged  crnel  war  against  human  nature  itself,  violating  its  most  sacred 
rights  of  life  and  liberty  in  the  persons  of  a  distant  people  who  never  offended  him, 
captivating  and  carrying  them  into  slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to  more  miser- 
able death  in  transportation  thither. 


CAR— CAR  69 

In  noticing  the  above  passage,  Lord  Brougliam  says :  The  word  capti- 
vating will  be  reckoned  an  Americanism  (as  the  Greeks  used  to  say 
of  their  colonists,  a  Solaecism).  But  it  has  undoubted  English  au- 
thority —  Locke,  among  others.  —  Statesmen  of  George  111. 

Twenty-three  people  were  killed  in  this  surprisal,  and  twenty-nine  were  capti- 
vated. —  Belknap,  Hist.  New  Hampshire,  Vol.  I.  ch.  10. 

The  singularly  interesting  event  of  captivating  a  second  Royal  army  [Lord 
Comwallis's]  produced  strong  emotions. — Bamsaij,  History  American  Revolution, 
Vol.  n.  p.  274. 

Cak.  The  carriages  that  compose  a  railway  train  are,  with  us,  called  "  rail- 
road cars."  These  are  of  various  kinds :  such  as  the  passenger-cars,  one 
of  which  is  the  smoMng-car,  for  those  who  must  needs  indulge  in  that 
luxury ;  the  haggage-car ;  and  the  mail-car.  Sometimes  a  whole  train 
is  composed  of  freight-cars.  The  English  travel  by  "  rail,"  or  take  the 
"train"  from  one  place  to  another.  We  go  by  the  cars,  or  take  the 
cars. 

Gak-brake.  a  lever  which,  acting  by  friction  on  the  wheels,  helps  to  stop 
the  train. 

Cak-house.     a  building  in  which  railroad  cars  are  kept. 

Caribou.  The  American  reindeer,  of  which  there  are  two  species,  the 
Barren  Ground,  and  the  Woodland,  Caribou. 

Harts  and  caribous  are  lulled,  both  in  summer  and  winter,  after  the  same  manned 
with  the  elks  ;  excepting  that  the  caribous,  which  are  a  kind  of  wild  asses,  make  an 
easy  escape  when  snow  is  at  hand,  by  virtue  of  their  broad  feet.  — La  Hontan,  North 
America. 

Caelicues,  or  Curltcues.  Boyish  tricks,  capers.  To  cut  or  cut  up 
carlicues  is  to  cut  capers. 

"  Sally,"  says  I,  "  will  you  take  me  for  better  or  worse  ?  " 

This  put  her  to  considering,  and  I  gave  a  flourishing  about  the  room,  and  cut  a 
curlycue  with  my  right  foot,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Take  your  own  time."  —  McClin- 
tock's  Tales. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  nature  is  perfect  in  all  her  works,  —  except  when 
she  gets  odd  freaks  in  her  head,  and  cuts  up  carlicues  by  way  of  experiment.  — Daw's 
Sermons,  Vol.  III.  p.  48. 

Carolina  Allspice.     See  Allspice. 

Carolina  Potato.  The  sweet  potato  {Convolvulus  batata),  so  called  in 
the  Eastern  States. 

Carpet  Weed.  A  small  spreading  plant,  common  in  cultivated  ground 
(^Mbllugo).  —  Bigelow's  Plants  of  Boston. 

To  CARRY  AWAY.    To  movc  to  ccstacy,  to  transport.   A  puritanical  deacon, 


70  CAR  — CAS 

shocked  at  the  idea  of  introducing  an  organ  into  a  church,  getting  much 
excited,  exclaimed : 

Organs  of  wood  and  brass  seem  like  idolatry,  as  if  we  could  n't  praise  the  Lord 

with  our  natural  voices !  —  I  got  carried  away,  and  am  certainly  afraid  all  this  care 

for  the  outer  portion  will  only  make  it  Avorse  for  the  better  part  of  us.  — Eastford, 

or  Household  Sketches. 

"  Do  you  remember  old  Jabe  Green's  wife  up  to  Wiggletown  ?  "  said  the  Widow 

Bedott.    "  She  was  always  carried  away  with  every  new  thing.     Two  or  three  years 

ago,  when  Millerism  was  makin'  such  a  noise,  she  was  clear  killed  up  with  it. 

Again  she  was  Avide  awake  against  Sabbath-breakin  —  then  'twas  moral  reform."  — 

Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  123. 

Carry- ALL.  A  four-wheeled  pleasure  carriage,  capable  of  holding  several 
persons  or  a  family ;  hence  its  nanie.  Some,  however,  consider  it  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  French  carriole.  The  name  is  common  in  the  Northern 
States.     In  Canada  it  is  applied  to  a  sleigh. 

Carry-log.     A  set  of  wheels  used  for  transporting  timber. 

One  day,  'bout  two  weeks  after  I  commenced  workin'  for  the  Squire,  I  was  drivin' 
'long,  settin'  straddle  of  a  stock  on  my  carry-log,  Avhen  I  sorter  druv  over  a  little 
stump,  and  the  dumed  log  come  unfastened.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  limes. 

To  CARRY  ON.     To  riot ;  to  frolic. 

We  notice  some  young  scapegi-aces,  who  get  up  their  wild  freaks  at  night  and 
continue  them  till  morning.  Sometimes  they  carry  on  even  longer  than  this. — 
N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Carryings-on.     Riotings,  frolickings. 

There  is  good  authority  for  the  use  of  this  term  by  English  writers  of 
the  seventeenth  century. 

Is  this  the  end 
To  which  these  carryings-on  did  tend  1 

Butler's  Hudibras,  Pt.  1,  Cant.  2. 

Everybody  tuck  Christmas,  especially  the  niggers,  and  sich  carryins-on  —  sich 
dancin'  and  singin'  —  and  shootin'  poppers  and  sky-rackets  —  you  never  did  see.  — 
Maj.  Jones's  Courtship. 

When  he  reflected  that  wlierevcr  there  were  singin'  schools,  there  would  be  carry- 
ings-on, he  thought  the  cheapest  plan  would  be  to  let  them  have  their  fun  out.  — 
Peter  Cram,  in  Knickerbocker  Mag. 

"Jeff,  let  them  seminary  galls  alone,"  said  his  aunt;  "they  are  a  wild  set;  and 
do  n't  have  such  carryins-on  with  them."  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers. 

Caetman.     (Pron.  carman.)     One  who  drives  a  cart. 

Case.  A  character,  a  queer  one ;  as,  "  That  Sol  Haddock  is  a  case." 
"  What  a  hard  case  he  is,"  meaning  a  reckless  scapegrace,  mauvais  snjet. 

"  I  say,  Jekyl,"  said  Tom  Gordon,  "  this  sister  of  mine  is  a  pretty  rapid  little 
case,  as  you  saw  by  the  way  she  circumvented  us  this  morning."  —  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred, 
Vol.  I.  p.  203, 


CAS  — CAT  ,  71 

Cashaw,  sometimes  spelt  kershaw.     A  pumpkin.     Western. 

Cassareap.  The  juice  of  the  bitter  yuca-root  boiled  down  to  a  sauce. 
Heat  dissipates  the  poisonous  property  of  the  fresh  juice.     West  Indies. 

Cassava,  or  Cassada.  (W.  Ind.  casavi.)  The  native  name  of  a  shrub 
of  Central  and  South  America,  from  the  root  of  which  Tapioca  and  Man- 
dioca  are  extracted.     See  Tapioca. 

Castanas,  or  Chestnuts,  in  tropical  America,  is  the  name  given  some- 
times to  the  Jack  Fruit  (Artocarpus  integrifolid),  and  sometimes  to  the 
edible  fruit  of  the  Screw  Pine  (Pandanus). 

Caswash  !  Dash !  spksh !  The  noise  made  by  a  body  falling  into  the 
water.     See  Cachunk. 

Catalpa.  ( Catalpa  cordifolia.)  An  ornamental  tree  ;  a  shade-tree  with 
large  flowers,  common  in  the  Middle  States.     The  aboriginal  name. 

Catamount.  A  name  apphed  synonymously  with  Panther  and  Painter  to 
several  wild,  fierce  animals  analogous  to  Felis  concolor,  but  not  specially 
employed  to  designate  that  species. 

Catawajipouslt,  or  Catawamptiously.  Fiercely,  eagerly.  To  be  car 
tawamptiously  chawed  up  is  to  be  completely  demolished,  utterly  de- 
feated. One  of  the  ludicrous  monstrosities  in  which  the  vulgar  language 
of  the  South-western  States  abounds. 

In  this  debate  Mr.  B.  was  catawamptiously  chawed  up;  his  arguments  were  not 
only  met,  but  his  sarcasm  returned  upon  himself  with  great  effect.  —  Charleston 
Mercury. 

There  is  something  cowardly  in  the  idea  of  disunion.  Where  is  the  wealth  and 
power  that  should  make  us  fourteen  millions  take  to  our  heels  before  three  hundred 
thousand  slaveholders,  for  fear  of  being  catawamptiously  chawed  up?  —  Speech  of 
Fred.  Douglass,  1857. 

Citizens  and  fellers ;  on  the  bloody  ground  on  which  our  fathers  caiawampously 
poured  out  their  claret  free  as  oil,  let  the  catamount  loose,  and  prepare  the 
engines  of  vengeance.  —  S.  H.  Hill,  Speech  on  the  Oregon  Question. 

Catawba  Grape.  A  cultivated  variety  of  Vitis  labrusca.  It  is  the  great 
wine-grape  of  the  United  States. 

Catch.  A  term  used  among  fishermen  to  denote  a  quantity  of  fish  taken 
at  one  time. 

It  is  said  that  the  catch  of  blue  fish  in  the  inlet  and  river  is  greater  than  ever 
known  so  early  in  the  season,  and  that  they  are  sers'ed  up  secundem  artetn  at  Mr. 
Wniiston's.  — N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer,  June  24. 

To  Catch  a  Weasel  asleep.  It  is  supposed  that  this  little  animal  is 
never  caught  napping,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  he  sleeps  in  his  hole 
beyond  the  reach  of  man.     The  expression  is  applied  to  persons  who  are 


7?  CAT— CAU 

watchful  and  always  on  the  alert,  or  who  cannot  be  surprised ;  as,  "  You 
cannot  deceive  me,  any  sooner  than  you  can  catch  a  weasel  asleep"  or, 
"  You  can't  catch  a  weasel  asleep."     The  expressions  are  common. 

To  CATCH  UP.  Among  ti*avellers  across  the  great  prairies,  the  phrase 
means,  to  prepare  the  horses  and  mules  for  the  march. 

The  mule  must  have  been  there  seven  or  eight  hours,  by  the  grass  she  had  eat ; 
a  pony  had  been  hitched  there  too,  and  after  the  mule  had  been  catched  up. — iV. 
Y,  Spirit  of  the  Times,  Frontier  Tale. 

They  travelled  all  night,  and  when  day  broke  took  to  the  bush,  camped  down  a 
smart  piece  off  the  trail,  stayed  till  about  noon,  catched  up  their  fresh  horses,  took  a 
bee  line  through  the  timber,  and,  when  night  came,  pushed  for  the  ti-ail  agin.  — 
Ibid. 

Come,  boys,  it 's  daylight,  wc  've  a  long  march  before  us ;  so  catch  up,  and  we  '11  be 
off.  —  Prairie  Scenes. 

Catfish.  (Genus  Prinelodus.  Cuvier.)  This  fish,  in  several  varieties,  is 
common  throughout  the  United  States  under  different  popular  names.  It 
is  also  called  by  the  name  of  Horned-pout,  Bull-head,  Mud-pout,  Minis- 
ter, or  simply  Cat.  There  is  a  very  large  species  called  the  Channel  Cat- 
fish, which  is  noticed  by  Dr.  Kirtland  in  his  Report  on  the  Geology  of 
Ohio. 

Catstick.  a  bat,  or  cudgel,  used  by  New  England  boys  in  a  game  at  ball. 
It  is  known  by  the  same  name  in  England,  though  used  for  a  different 
play.  In  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  further  south,  the  term  is  applied 
to  small  wood  for  burning. 

When  the  cat  is  laid  upon  the  ground,  the  player  with  his  cudgel  or  catstick  strikes 
it  smaitly,  it  matters  not  at  which  end,  and  it  will  rise  high  enough  for  him  to  beat 
it  away  as  it  falls,  in  the  same  manner  as  he  would  a  ball.  —  Strutt,  Sports  and 
Pastimes. 

Cat-tail  Grass.     Herds-grass,  or  timothy. 

Catting.  Fishing  for  "  cat."  Thus,  a  story  is  told  of  an  old  negro,  who 
while  fishing  was  seen  to  keep  only  the  catfish  and  throw  all  others, 
even  of  the  better  kinds,  back  into  the  water.  On  being  asked  the  reason, 
he  replied,  "  Lilly  massa,  when  I  goes  a  cattin,  I  goes  a  cattin" 

Cattle-range.    In  Kentucky,  a  park. 

Caucus.  A  private  meeting  of  the  leading  politicians  of  a  party,  to  agree 
upon  the  plans  to  be  pursued  in  an  approaching  election. 

Gordon,  in  his  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  1788,  says :  "  The 
word  is  not  of  novel  invention.  More  than  fifty  years  ago,  Mr.  Samuel 
Adams's  father,  and  twenty  others,  one  or  two  from  the  north  end  of  the 
town,  where  all  ship  business  is  carx-ied  on,  used  to  meet,  make  a  caucus, 
and  lay  their  plan  for  introducing  certain  persons  into  places  of  trust 


CAU— CAW  73 

and  power.  When  they  had  settled  it,  they  separated,  and  used  each 
his  particular  influence  within  his  own  circle,"  etc.  —  Vol.  I.  p.  240. 

"  From  the  above  remarks  of  Dr.  Gordon  on  this  word,"  says  Mr. 
Pickering,  "it  would  seem  that  these  meetings  were  in  some  measure 
under  the  direction  of  men  concerned  in  the  '  ship  business  ;  '  and  I  had 
therefore  thought  it  not  improbable  that  caucus  might  be  a  corruption  of 
caulkers',  the  word  '  meetings '  being  understood.  I  was  afterwards  in- 
formed that  several  gentlemen  in  Salem  and  Boston  believed  this  to  be 
the  origin  of  the  word." 

The  earliest  mention  of  this  word,  that  has  come  under  my  notice,  is  in 
John  Adams's  Diary,  under  date  of  February,  1763,  where  he  says  : 

Tliis  day  learned  that  the  caucus  club  meets,  at  certain  times,  in  the  gari-et  of  Tom 
Dawes,  the  adjutant  of  the  Boston  regiment.  —  Works,  Vol.  II.  p.  144. 

I  '11  be  a  voter,  and  this  is  a  big  character,  able  to  shoulder  a  steamboat,  and 
carry  any  candidate  that  the  caucus  at  Baltimore  may  set  up  against  the  people. 
What 's  the  people  to  a  caucus  ?  Nothing  but  a  dead  ague  to  an  earthquake.  — 
Crochet's  Tour,  p.  206. 

To  BE  A  Caution.    To  be  a  warning.    A  common  slang  expression. 

The  way  the  Repealers  were  used  up  was  a  caution  to  the  trinity  of  O'Counell, 
Repeal,  and  Anti-Slavery,  when  they  attempt  to  interfere  with  true  American  citi- 
zens. —  New  York  Herald. 

There  's  a  plaguy  sight  of  folks  in  America,  Major,  and  the  way  they  swallow 
down  the  cheap  books  is  a  caution  to  old  rags  and  paper-makers.  —  Maj.  Downing, 
May -day  in  New  York,  p.  3. 

Moses  wound  up  his  description  of  the  piano,  by  saying  that  the  way  the  dear 
creeturs  could  pull  music  out  of  it  was  a  caution  to  hoarse  owls. —  Thorpe's  Myste- 
ries of  the  Backwoods,  p.  24. 

A  large  portion  of  Capt.  Marryatt's  "  Travels  of  Mons.  Violet,"  is  stolen  from 
the  New  Orleans  Picayune ;  and  it  will  not  be  surprising  if  Kendall  [the  author] 
lets  his  sting  into  this  trans-Atlantic  robber.  He  can  do  it  in  a  way  that  will  be  a 
caution.  — Providence  Journal. 

Our  route  was  along  the  shore  of  the  lake  in  a  northerly  direction,  and  the  way 
the  icy  blast  would  come  down  the  bleak  shore  was  a  caution.  —  Hoffman,  Winter 
in  the  West,  p.  234. 

Cavekn  Limestone.  The  carboniferous  limestone  of  Kentucky,  so  called 
from  the  innumerable  caves  which  its  hard  strata  contain.  In  the  softer 
limestone  of  the  West,  the  roof  of  the  cavern  falls  in  and  forms  on  the 
surface  a  "  sink  "  or  "  sinkhole,"  a  funnfel-shaped  depression,  which,  if  the 
opening  is  not  closed,  sometimes  proves  fatal  to  animals,  and  even  to 
man. 

Cawhalux  !    Whop  !    The  noise  made  by  a  box  on  the  ear. 

I  hadn't  sot  no  time  before,  cawhalux!  some  one  took  me  the  right  side  o'  the  head 

7 


74  CAV— CED 

with  a  dratted  big  book.     The  fire  flew  out  of  my  eyes  like  red  coals.  —  Maj 
Jones's  Courtship. 

Cavortin.  a  corruption  of  the  word  "  curvetting,"  applied  to  horses  and 
their  riders  when  prancing  about  in  order  to  show  off;  and  then  figura- 
tively to  any  person  capering  about.  A  word  chiefly  used  in  the  South- 
ern States. 

A  whole  gang  of  feUers,  and  a  heap  more  of  young  ladies,  came  ridin'  up  and 
reinin'  in,  and  prancin'  and  cavortin'.  — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  41. 

He  tossed  himself  into  eveiy  attitude  which  man  could  assume  on  horseback.  In 
short,  he  cavorted  most  magnanimously.  —  Georgia  Scenes. 

Old  Alic  had  a  daughter,  that  war  a  most  enticin'  creatur ;  and  I  seed  Tom  Set- 
tlers cavortin'  round  her  like  a  young  buffalo.  — Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

There 's  some  monstrous  fractious  characters  down  in  our  beat,  and  they  mus  n't 
come  a  cavortin'  about  me  when  I  give  orders.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  20 

Cavallard.  (Span,  cahallada.)  A  term  used,  in  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
by  the  caravans  which  cross  the  prairies,  to  denote  a  band  of  horses  or 
mules. 

The  chef  d'oeuvre  of  this  Indian's  rascality  was  exhibited  in  his  stealing  our  whole 
cavallard,  consisting  of  ten  head  of  horses  and  mules,  which  he  drove  to  the  moun- 
tains. —  Scenes  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  80. 

Two  or  three  were  mounted,  and  sent  into  the  prairie  in  search  of  the  caviarde 
of  horses.  — A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p.  97. 

To  Cave  in.  Said  of  the  earth  which  falls  down  when  digging  into  a 
bank.     Figuratively,  to  break  down ;  to  give  up. 

He  was  a  plucky  fellow,  and  wam't  a  goin'  to  cave  in  that  way.  —  S.  Slick,  Human 
Nature,  p.  55. 

At  the  late  dinner,  Mr.  W arose  to  make  a  speech,  but  soon  caved  in.  — Wash- 
ington Paper. 

The  South-western  and  "Western  Locos,  it  is  thought,  wiU  cave  in,  and  finally  go 
for  the  Treaty  [of  peace  with  Mexico],  though  they  talk  loud  against  it  now. —  New 
York  Tribune,  March  4,  1848. 

Dr.  Kane,  in  alluding  to  the  weak  state  of  his  companions,  says,  Morton  felt  so 
much  better  that  he  got  up  at  six  ;  but  he  caved  in  soon  after. — Arctic  Explorations, 
Vol.  II.  p.  94. 

Caves  ON.     (Fr.  cavegon.)     A  muzzle  for  a  horse.    New  England. 

There,  Chilion,  it  is  just  as  I  told  you.  The  rake-shame  put  a  caveson  on  him. — 
Margaret,  p.  304. 

CAT3IAN.  (West  Indian.)  This  native  name  for  the  alligator  is  still  re- 
tained in  the  West  Indies. 

Cazique.     See  Cacique. 

Cedar.  A  name  applied,  in  the  United  States,  to  different  genera  of  the 
Pine  family.    The   Red  Cedar  (Jumjperus  virginiana)  is  a  juniper. 


CEN— CHA  75 

The  White  Cedar  (  Oypressus  thyoides)  is  a  cypress,  which  is  found  in  the 
"  Cedar  Swamps." 

Census.  In  the  United  States,  an  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  all 
the  States,  taken  by  order  of  Congress,  to  furnish  the  rule  of  apportion- 
ing the  representation  among  the  States,  and  the  number  of  representa- 
tives to  which  each  State  is  entitled  in  the  Congress ;  also  the  enumera- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  of  a  State,  taken  by  order  of  the  Legislature.  — 
Webster. 

Cent.  A  copper  coin  of  the  United  States,  whose  value  is  the  hundredth 
part  of  a  dollar.  —  Webster. 

Certain,  for  certainly.  "  He 's  dead  certain."  "  I  '11  go  to-morrow  sure 
and  certain."     Very  common. 

Chained  Lightning.     Western,  for  forked  lightning. 

Chalk.  A  long  chalk  vulgarly  means  a  great  distance,  a  good  deal. 
When  a  person  attempts  to  effect  a  particular  object,  in  which  he  fails, 
we  say,  "  He  can't  do  it  by  a  long  chalk." 

'Twas  about  calf-time,  and  not  a  hundred  year  ago,  hy  a  long  chalk,  that  the 
biggest  kind  of  rendezvous  was  held  to  Independence,  a  mighty  handsome  little 
location  away  up  on  old  Missouri. — Ruxton,  Far  West,  p.  14. 

Put  on  your  hat,  or  you  may  get  a  sun-stroke,  which  will  cause  you  more  pain 
than  the  helmet  did  bi/  a  long  chalk.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature. 

If  Nova  Scotia  is  behind  in  intelligence,  it  is  a  long  chalk  ahead  on  us  in  other 
respects. — Sam  Slick. 

Change.  To  meet  with  a  change  is  to  have  change  of  heart,  to  experience 
religion. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  insinuate  that  ye  've  met  with  a  change  ?  "  said  the  Widow 
Bedott  to  Jim  Clarke,  the  peddler. 

"  I  think  I  may  confidently  say  I  hev,"  said  Jim. 
"  How  long  since  1  " 

"  Wall,  about  a  year  and  a  half.  I  experienced  religion  over  in  Varmount,  at  a 
protracted  meetin'.  I  tell  ye,  Widow,  them  special  efforts  is  great  things;  ever 
sence  I've  come  out,  I've  felt  like  another  critter." —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  108. 

Chaparral.  In  Spain,  a  chaparral  is  a  bush  of  a  species  of  oak.  The 
termination  al  signifies  a  place  abounding  in  ;  as,  chaparral,  a  place  of 
oak-bushes  ;  almendral,  an  almond  orchard  ;  parral,  a  vineyard  ;  cafetal, 
a  coffee  plantation,  etc.,  etc. 

This  word,  chapparal,  has  been  introduced  into  the  language  since  our 
acquisition  of  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  where  these  bushes  abound. 
It  is  a  series  of  thickets,  of  various  sizes,  from  one  hundred  yards 
to  a  mile  tlirough,  with  bushes  and  briars,  all  covered  with  thorns, 
and  so  closely  entwined  together  as  almost  to  prevent  the  passage  of  any 
thing  larger  than  a  wolf  or  hare. 

Vt/ .' 


76  CHA— CHE 

We  had,  too,  a  lieutenant  of  His  Majesty's  Royal  Marines,  another  of  Nature's 
noblemen,  who  preferred  a  camp  to  the  toils  of  field  sports,  when  a  scrub  was  to  be 
crawled  under  or  forced  through  at  the  risk  of  tattered  garments,  scratched  hands, 
and  bleeding  noses,  to  say  nothing  about  a  basking  rattlesnake  or  so,  as  formidable 
as  the  chapparal  of  Palo  Alto,  defended  by  gigantic  cactus  here,  sharp-pointed 
yuccas  there,  and  cat-claw  briars  everywhere. — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

To  Chaw.  To  ctamp  between  the  teeth  ;  to  masticate;  to  chew. — John- 
son. Webster.  This,  accoi'ding  to  all  lexicographers,  is  the  legitimate 
word.  Although  found  in  good  authors,  it  is  retained,  in  this  country  as 
in  England,  only  by  the  illiterate. 

I  home  returning,  fraught  with  foul  despite. 

And  chawing  vengeance  all  the  way  I  went. — Spenser ,  F.  Queen. 

The  man  who  laught  but  once,  to  see  an  ass 
Mumbling  to  make  the  cross-grained  thistles  pass 
Might  laugh  again,  to  sec  a  jury  chaw 
The  prickles  of  unpalatable  law.  — Dryden. 

To  Chaw  up.     To  demolish,  discomfit. 

I  heerd  Tom  Jones  swar  he  'd  chaw  me  up,  if  an  inch  big  of  me  was  found  in 
them  diggins  in  the  momin'.  -rSobb,  Squatter  Life,  p.  63. 

Miss  Patience  smiled,  and  looked  at  Joe  Cash.  Cash's  knees  trembled.  All 
eyes  were  upon  him.  He  sweat  all  over.  Miss  Patience  said  she  was  gratified  to 
hear  Mr.  Cash  was  a  musician;  she  admired  people  who  had  a  musical  taste. 
Whereupon  Cash  fell  into  a  chair,  as  he  afterwards  observed,  chawed  up.  —  Thorpe's 
Backwoods,  p.  28.  • 

To  Chaw  up  one's  Words.    To  eat  one's  words,  to  retract. 

Do  you  want  me  to  tell  a  lie  by  chawing  up  my  own  words'? -^ Southern  Sketches, 
p.  34. 

Chebacco  Boat.  A  description  of  fishing  vessel  employed  in  the  New- 
foundland fisheries.  They  are  also  called  Pinksterns,  and  sometimes 
Tobacco  Boats.  The  word  is  doubtless  a  corruption  of  Chedabucto,  the 
name  of  a  bay  in  Nova  Scotia,  from  which  vessels  are  fitted  out  for 
fishing. 

Checkers,  i.  e.  Chequers.  The  common  name  for  the  game  which  is 
called  draughts  in  England.  Mr.  Todd,  in  his  edition  of  Johnson's 
Dictionary,  has  the  word,  "  Checker,  a  chess-board,  or  draught-board." 

The  checkers,  at  this  time  a  common  sign  of  a  public-house,  was  originally 
intended,  I  should  suppose,  for  a  kind  of  draught-board,  called  t^les,  and  showed 
that  there  the  game  might  be  played.  —  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities. 

Chequer  Berry.  (Mitchella.)  A  handsome  little  creeping  plant,  the 
only  species  of  its  genus,  more  commonly  known  as  the  Partridge  Berry. 
Also  called  Chickberry. 


CHE— CHI  77 

Chess.  (Bromus  secalinus^  A  troublesome  weed,  often  found  in  wheat 
fields,  which  gave  rise  to  the  erroneous  opinion  that  it  was  degenerated 
wheat.     It  is  also  called  Cheat. 

Chesstcat.  (Cheshire  Cat.)  Although  Charles  Lamb's  query  as  to  the 
reason  why  cats  grin  in  Cheshire  has  not  yet  met  with  a  satisfactory  solu- 
tion, stUl  the  fact  itself  seems  to  remain  undisputed.  A  correspondent  of 
the  New  York  Tribune,  discussing  the  distinctive  quality  that  separates 
man  from  the  brute  creation,  observes,  "  Rabelais,  forgetting  the  hyena 
and  the  Chessycat,  says  it  is  laughter." 

CHEwrvK.  The  ground  robin  ;  so  called  from  its  pecuhar  note.  On  Long 
Island  it  is  called  the  Towhee  Goldfinch;  and  in  Louisiana,  jfrom  its 
plumpness,  Grasset.  —  Natural  History  of  New  York. 

Chicha.     (West  Ind.)     A  fermented  liquor  made  of  Indian  com. 

Chickadee.  The  black-cap  titmouse,  a  very  common  little  bird,  so  called 
from  its  peculiar  note.  —  Audubon,  Ornith. 

Chickabee.  {Sciurus  hudsonii.)  The  popular  name  of  the  Red  Squir- 
rel. 

Cnif  KASAW  Plum.  {Prwius  chicasa.)  A  plum  growing  on  the  bank"* 
of  the  Red  River,  Arkansas,  upon  small  bushes  from  two  to  six  feet 
high.  They  are  very  large  and  sweet,  and  vary  in  color  from  a  light 
pink  to  a  deep  crimson. —  Capt.  Marcy's  Report,  p.  19. 

Chicken  Snake.  A  name  popularly  applied  to  various  species  of  snakes 
Avhich  are  considered  as  particularly  destructive  to  chickens  and  eggs. 

Chicken  Fixings.     In  the  "Western  States,  a  chicken  fricassee. 

The  remainder  of  the  breakfast  table  [in  New  York]  was  filled  up  vdth.  some 
warmed-up  old  hen,  called  chicken  fixings.  —  Rubio,  Travels  in  the  U.  S. 

We  trotted  on  very  fast,  in  the  assurance  of  rapidly  approaching  a  snug  breakfast 
of  chicken  fixins,  eggs,  ham  doins,  and  com  slap-jacks.  —  Carlton,  New  Purchase, 
Vol.  II.  p.  69. 

I  guess  I  '11  order  supper.  What  shall  it  be  1  corn-bread  and  common  doins,  or 
wheat-bread  and  chicken  fixins  ?  —  Sam  Slick,  3d  Ser.,  p.  118. 

Chicken  Grape.  The  River  Grape,  or  Vitis  riparia ;  also  called  Frost 
Grape.  The  sterile  vine  is  cultivated  for  its  sweet-scented  blossoms, 
and  is  then  called  Bermudian  Vine. 

Chigoe,  spelt  also  chigre,  chigger,  jigger,  etc.  {Pulex  penetrans.)  Sand- 
fleas,  which  penetrate  imder  the  skin  of  the  feet,  particularly  the  toes. 
As  soon  as  they  accomplish  this,  an  itching  sensation  is  felt ;  when  the 
chigre  ought  to  be  removed  by  means  of  a  needle  breaking  the  skin.  No 
uneasiness  follows  ;  but  should  this  precaution  be  neglected,  the  insect 
breeds  in  the  toe,  and  sometimes  produces  dreadful  sores.     These  insects 

7* 


78  CHI  — CHI 

are   found  in  the  "West  Lidies,  and  the  adjacent  shores  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  —  CarmichaeVs  West  Indies,  Vol.  I.  p.  189. 

In  Kentucky  the  term  is  apphed  to  a  minute  red  acarus,  or  tick,  which 
buries  itself  in  the  skin,  while  the  true  chico  of  the  South  (a  pulex) 
causes  toiment  by  the  growth  of  the  eggs  which  it  deposits  under  the 
skin. 

Child.  This  child  is  a  common  expression  in  the  "West  for  "  this  person," 
i.  e.  myself. 

Human  nature  can't  go  on  feeding  on  civilized  fixings  in  this  big  village ;  and 
this  child  has  felt  like  going  West  for  many  a  month,  being  half  froze  for  buffler 
meat  and  mountain  doins.  — Ruxton,  Far  West. 

Chills  and  Fever.     A  name  for  fever  and  ague. 

Chincapin.  (Powhatan  Ind.)  (Castanea  pumila.)  A  diminutive  spe- 
cies of  chestnut,  shaped  like  a  boy's  top,  common  south  of  Pennsylvania. 

They  have  a  small  fruit  growing  on  little  trees,  husked  like  a  chestnut,  but  the 
fruit  most  like  a  very  small  Acome.  This  they  call  Chechinquamins,  -which  they 
estecme  a  great  daintie.  —  Smith's  Virginia. 

Chinch,  or  Chints.  (Span,  chinche.)  The  name  given  in  the  Southern 
and  Middle  States  to  the  Bed-bug  (cimex).  • 

Chinches  are  a  sort  of  flat  bug,  which  lurks  in  the  bedsteads  and  bedding,  and 
disturbs  people's  rest  a-nights.  — Beverly's  'Virginia,  1705. 

Chinch-bug.  A  fetid  insect,  destructive  to  wheat,  maize,  etc.,  in  the 
Southern  and  Western  States.  —  Farm.  Encyclop. 

Chinese  Sugar-cane.     A  name  given  to  the  Sorghum  Saccharatum. 

To  Chink.  To  fill  up  chinks,  or  interstices.  The  process  of  filling  with 
clay  the  interstices  between  the  logs  of  houses  in  the  new  countries,  and 
then  plastering  them  over  with  the  same  material,  is  called  chinhing  and 
daubing.  In  the  north  of  England  it  is  called  daubing  and  filling.  — 
Moor. 

Our  log-house  quarters,  however,  were  closely  chinked  and  daubed,  and  we  passed 
&  comfortable  night.  —  Kendall's  Santa  F€  Exp.,  Vol.  I.  p.  28. 

The  interstices  of  the  log  wall  were  "  chinked "  —  the  chinking  being  large  chips 
and  small  slabs,  dipping  like  strata  of  rocks  in  geology ;  and  the  daubing,  yellow 
clay  ferociously  splaslied  in  soft  by  the  hand  of  the  architect.  —  Carlton,  The  New 
Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  61. 

A  huge  pair  of  antlers  occupied  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  little  cabin,  and  upon 
its  unchincked  walls  many  a  coon  and  deer  skin  were  drj-ing.  —  The  Fire  Hunt. 

I  met  with  a  lot  of  these  the  other  day  in  Southern  Illinois ;  and  as  it  can  have  no 
bearing  upon  the  election  now,  perhaps  you  would  like  to  have  it  to  use  for  chinking 
in  among  your  election  returns.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 


CHI— CHO  79 

Chipmuk,  or  Chipmoxk.  The  popular  name  for  the  Striped  Squirrel 
(^Sciurus  striatus).     Probably  an  Indian  word. 

The  children  were  never  tired  of  watching  the  vagaries  of  the  little  chipmonk,  as 
he  glanced  from  branch  to  branch.  — Mrs.  Clnvers's  Forest  Life. 

CnraAMOYA.  {Annona  chirimoya.')  The  Custard  Apple  of  the  more 
temperate  part  of  the  tropics. 

Chirk.  Lively,  cheerful,  in  good  spirits,  in  a  comfortable  state ;  as 
when  one  inquires  about  a  sick  person,  it  is  said,  he  is  chirk.  The  word 
is  whoUy  lost,  except  in  New  England.  —  Wehster.  It  is  doubtless  de- 
rived from  the  old  verb  to  chirk  (Ang.  Sax.  cercian),  i.  e.  to  chirp,  which 
is  found  in  old  English  writers. 

Afore  I  had  mixed  a  second  glass  of  switchel,  up  they  came,  and  the  General 
looked  as  chirk  and  lively  as  a  skipper.  —  Maj.  Downing' s  Letters. 

To  Chirrup.  To  cheer  up  ;  to  quicken  or  animate  a  horse  by  a  peculiar 
sound  or  chirping.  It  is  not  noticed  by  Johnson,  though  it  is  common  in 
England. 

The  mustang  needs  but  a  chirrup  to  arouse  him,  and  set  him  off  at  a  gait  which 
an  Eastern  horse  can  hardly  attain.  — Prairie  Scenes. 

To  Chisel.    To  cheat,  to  swindle.     Comp.  To  gouge.    A  "Western  word. 

The  banking-house  of have,  by  their  recent  failure,  chiselled  the  people  of 

California  out  of  a  million  of  dollars.  — Alta  Califomian. 

To  those  who  are  in  the  habit  of  being  chiselled  by  their  butchers  and  grocers,  we 
would  advise  a  visit  to  the  governor's  room  and  examine  the  standard  of  weights 
and  measures.  — New  York  Herald. 

"  State  your  case,"  said  a  Western  lawyer  to  a  "  sucker,"  who  had  applied  for 
advice. 

"  It 's  an  infamal  mean  case  of  woman-swindling ;  it  sets  my  teeth  a  gritten  to 
think  on  it.  I  've  been  owdacionsly  chiselled,  dan  dam  my  foolish  pictur !  I  might 
have  known  that  puke  war  n't  to  be  trusted.  —  St.  Louis  Reveille. 

Chitlins.     (A  contraction  of  chitterlings.)     Rags,  tatters. 

While  I  was  in  this  way  rolling  in  clover,  they  were  tearing  my  character  all  to 
chitlins  up  at  home.  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

They  did  aU  they  could  to  tear  my  reputation  to  chitlins.  —  Sam  Slick,  Hitman 
Nature,  p.  188. 

I  told  you  it  wur  a  sorrowful  story,  but  you  would  hev  it  out,  and  jest  see  how  it 
makes  parfect  chidins  of  your  feelins.  —  Western  Tales. 

Chivalry.    A  cant  term  for  the  people  of  the  South. 

Had  the  Free  States  been  manly  enough,  true  enough,  to  enact  the  Wilmot  Pro- 
viso as  to  all  present  or  future  territories  of  the  Union,  we  should  have  had  just  about 
the  same  didoes  cut  up  by  the  chivalry  that  we  have  witnessed,  and  with  no  more 
damage  to  the  Union.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  April  10,  1851. 

To  Chock.  (A  corruption  of  check.)  To  put  a  wedge  under  a  thing  to 
prevent  its  moving ;  thus  to  "  cJiock  "  a  barrel  or  cart-wheel,  is  to  put  a 
piece  of  wood  or  a  stone  under  it  to  keep  it  steady. 


80  CHO  — CHO 

Chocolate.  (Mexican,  chocolatl.)  The  paste,  or  cake,  made  of  the 
roasted  kernel  of  the  cacao.  When  prepared  in  foreign  countries,  it  is 
mixed  with  sugar,  cinnamon,  or  vanilla. 

Chock  up.     Close,  tight ;  said  of  a  thing  which  fits  closely  to  another. 

Chock-full.     Entirely  full ;  see  also  Chuck-full. 

I  'm  cliock-full  of  genius  and  running  over,  said  Pigwiggin.  —  Need. 
By  this  time  we  got  into  a  shabby-looking  street,  chock-full  of  hogs  and  boys.  — . 
Maj.  Downing,  May-day  in  New  York. 

Chogset.     See  Burgall. 

Choke  Berry.  (Pyrus  arbutifolia.)  A  plant  having  astringent  proper- 
ties. 

Choke  Cherry.  The  popular  name  of  the  Prunus  virginiana,  so  called 
from  its  astringent  properties. 

To  Choke  off.  To  stop  (a  person)  in  the  execution  of  a  purpose.  A 
figurative  expression,  borrowed  from  the  act  of  choking  a  dog  to  make 
him  loose  his  hold.  To  arrest  a  public  speaker  when  growing  tedious,  is 
called  choking  him  off.  This  is  done  by  shufiling  the  feet,  applauding 
where  applause  is  uncalled  for,  by  putting  questions  of  order,  etc. 

I  spent  a  couple  of  hours  in  the  House,  amused  by  watching  the  dignified  pro- 
ceedings of  our  Keprcscntatives.  The  operation  of  "  choking  off"  a  speaker  was 
very  funny,  and  reminded  me  of  the  lawless  conduct  of  fighting  school-boys.  —  New 
York  Express,  Feb.  21,  1848. 

To  Chomp.  To  chew  loudly,  to  champ.  This  pronunciation  is  common 
to  the  North  of  England  and  to  New  England.  (Also  used  in  the  West 
and  South.) 

Chop.  A  Chinese  word  signifying  quality ;  first  introduced  by  mariners 
in  the  China  trade,  but  which  has  noAV  become  common  in  all  our  sea- 
ports. Originally  the  word  was  applied  only  to  silks,  teas,  or  other  goods 
from  China  ;  now  the  phrase  first  chop  is  an  equivalent  to  "  first-rate," 
and  applied  to  every  thing. 

A  smart  little  boss,  says  I,  you  arc  a  cleaning  of;  he  looks  like  a,  first  chop  article. 
—  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  2. 

I  went  to  board  at  a  famous  establishment  in  Broadway,  where  sundry  young 
merchants  of  \h.Q  first  chop  were  wont  to  board.  — Perils  of  Pearl  Street. 

Chore.     A  small  piece  of  domestic  work,  a  little  job,  a  char. 

In  England,  the  word  char  is  used  both  as  a  noun  and  as  a  verb.  The 
pronunciation  also  varies;  in  some  of  the  southern  counties  it  is  pro- 
nounced cheure,  or  choor. 

In  America,  the  noun  only  is  employed,  and  generally  in  the  plural. 
The  pronunciation  is  uniformly  chore.  It  is  mostly  confined  to  New 
England. 


CHO  — CHU  81 

Hunting  cattle  is  a  dreadful  chore,  remarked  one  of  our  neighbors,  after  threading 
the  country  for  three  weeks  in  search  of  his  best  ox,  —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life. 

Eadnej  comes  down  and  milks  the  cow,  and  does  some  of  my  other  little  chores. 
—  Margaret,  p.  388. 

Gui  hunting  is  certainly  among  our  most  formidable  chores.  —  Mrs.  KirHand, 
Western  Clearings. 

The  editor  of  the  Boston  Daily  Star,  in  recently  relinquishing  his 
charge,  gives  the  following  notice : 

Any  one  wishing  com  hoed,  gardens  weeded,  wood  sawed,  coal  pitched  in,  para- 
graphs written,  or  small  chores  done  with  despatch  and  on  reasonable  terms,  will 
please  make  immediate  application  to  the  retiring  editor. 

Chowder.  A  favorite  dish  in  New  England,  made  of  fish,  pork,  onions, 
and  biscuit  stewed  together.  Cider  and  champagne  are  sometimes  added. 
Pic-nic  parties  to  the  sea-shore  generally  have  a  dish  of  chowder,  pre- 
pared by  themselves  in  some  grove  near  the  beach,  from  fish  caught  at 
the  same  time.     Grose  describes  the  same  as  a  sea-dish. 

Christian  (pron.  with  the  first  i  long).  A  name  assumed  by  a  sect  which 
arose  from  the  great  revival  in  1801. 

Christiakization.  This  substantive  is  to  be  found  occasionally  in  our 
religious  publications.  The  verb  to  christianize,  which  is  in  the  dic- 
tionaries, is  in  use  among  the  English  writers ;  but  the  substantive  is 
never  employed  by  them.  —  Pickering,  Vocabulary. 

Chub.     A  name  sometimes  given  to  the  Blackfish. 

Chub  Sucker.    A  sea-fish,  otherwise  called  the  Homed  Sucker. 

Chuck-full.  Entirely  full.  Common  in  familiar  language,  as  well  as 
chock-fuU,  which  see  for  other  examples. 

[At  dinner]  the  sole  labor  of  the  attendants  was  to  keep  the  plates  chuck-fuU  of 
something. —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  181. 

I  '11  throw  that  in,  to  make  chuck-full  the  "  measure  of  the  countiy's  glory."  — 
Crockett,  Tour,  p.  86. 

CHUCK-wiLL's-WrDOW.  The  common  name  of  a  bird  of  the  whippoor- 
will  family.  (  Caprimulgus  carolitiensis.)  Mr.  Audubon  says  :  "  About 
the  middle  of  March,  the  forests  of  Louisiana  are  heard  to  echo  with  the 
well-known  notes  of  this  interesting  bird.  No  sooner  has  the  sun  dis- 
appeared, and  the  nocturnal  insects  emerge  from  their  bm-rows,  than  the 
sound  '  Chuck-wiU's-widow,'  repeated  with  great  clearness  and  power 
six  or  seven  times  in  as  many  seconds,  strike  the  ear."  —  Ornithology, 
Vol.  I.  p.  273. 

Chufa.     (See  Earth  Almond.)     . 


82  CHU— CHU 

Chuck-a-luck.     a  Western  game,  played  with  dice. 

At  Holly  Fork,  Tennessee,  any  one  can  be  accommodated.  Cards  or  chuck-a- 
luck,  old  corn  or  cider,  a  fight  or  a  foot-race,  mattered  not,  it  was  to  be  had  at  a 
moment's  notice.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  160. 

Chuk  !     A  noise  made  in  calling  swine.    Always  repeated  at  least  three 
times. 

Chunk.     A  short,  thick  piece  of  wood,  or  of  any  thing  else ;  a  chump.     The 
word  is  provincial  in  England,  and  colloquial  in  the  United  States. 

I  rode  an  all-fired  smart  chunk  of  a  poney  —  real  Creole  —  cane  raised  —  walk  six 
miles  an  hour,  and  run  like  a  scared  deer  in  a  prairie  a-fire.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the 
Times,  Frontier  Incident. 

It  is  true  that  now  and  then  a  small  chunk  of  sentiment  or  patriotism  or  philan- 
thropy is  thrown  in  awkwardly  among  the  crudities  and  immoralities  [of  the  stage] 
—  but  it  evidently  has  no  business  there.  —  New  York  in  Slices,  TJie  Theatre. 

To  Chunk.    To  throw  sticks  or  chips  at  one.     Southern  and  Western. 

Chunk- Yard  or  Chunkee-Yard.    A  name  given  by  the  white  traders  to 
the  oblong  four-square  yards  adjoining  the  high  mounts  and  rotundas  of 
the  modern  Indians  of  Florida.     In  the  centre  of  these  stands  the  obe- 
lisk, and  at  each  corner  of  the  further  end  stands  a  slave  post,  or  strong 
stake,  where  the  captives  that  are  burnt  alive  are  bound.  —  Bartram. 
The  pyramidal  hills  or  artificial  mounts,  and  highways  or  avenues,  leading  from 
them  to  artificial  lakes  or  ponds,  vast  tetragon  terraces,  chunk-yards,  and  obelisks  or 
pillars  of  wood,  are  the  only  monuments  of  labor,  ingenuity,  and  magnificence,  that 
I  have  seen  worthy  of  notice.  —  Bartram,  Travels  in  Florida,  (1773,)  p.  518. 

This  is  doubtless  an  Indian  term,  and  the  enclosure  a  place  where  the 
natives  played  a  game  called  chunkee,  as  will  appear  by  the  following 
extract  from  Du  Pratz  : 

"  The  warriors  practise  a  diversion  which  they  call  the  game  of  the 
pole,  at  which  only  two  play  at  a  time.  Each  pole  is  about  eight  feet 
long,  resembling  a  Roman  f,  and  the  game  consists  in  rolling  a  flat,  round 
stone,  about  three  inches  in  diameter  and  one  inch  thick,  and  throwing 
the  pole  in  such  a  manner,  that  when  the  stone  rests  the  pole  may  be  at 
or  near  it.  Both  the  antagonists  throw  their  poles  at  the  same  time,  and 
he  whose  pole  is  nearest  the  stone  counts  one,  and  has  the  right  of  roll- 
ing the  stone."  —  History  of  Louisiana,  1720. 

Chunked.     Any  person  who  is   impudent  or  bold,  at  the  South-west,  is 
said  to  be  chunked. 

Chunky.     Short  and  thick.     Often  applied  to  the  stature  of  a  person,  as 
"  he  is  a  chunky  little  fellow." 

Church.     Mr.  Pickering  has  the  following  remarks  on   this  word:  "A 
church,  as  a  body  of  persons,  is  distinguished,  in  New  England,  from  a 


CID  — CIT  83 

congregation,  by  the  privileges  which  the  former  in  general  reserve  to 
themselves  of  receiving  exclusively  in  that  church  the  sacrament  and 
baptism,  in  consequence  of  their  having  publicly  declared  their  assent  to 
the  creed  which  that  church  maintains.  Marriage,  burial,  and  public 
worship,  are  open  to  the  members  of  the  congregation  at  large,  according 
to  the  forms  and  methods  employed  in  each  church ;  as  are  also  cate- 
chizing for  children  and  visits  to  the  sick."  —  Vocabulary. 

CiDEB.  AU  talk  and  no  cider  is  a  phrase  equivalent  to  "  great  cry  and 
little  wool." 

CiBER  Brandt.     See  Apple  Brandy. 

Cider  Oil.  Cider  concentrated  by  boiling,  to  which  honey  is  subsequently 
added. 

CiENEGA.  (Span.)  A  marsh.  New  Mexico  and  Texas.  A  small  marsh 
is  called  a  cienegtiita. 

,         CiKi.m.    A  squash,  so  called  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  States. 

To  Circulate.  To  travel.  Used  in  this  sense  many  times  in  a  pam- 
phlet on  the  "  Frauds,  Extortions,  and  Oppressions  of  the  Eailroad  Mo- 
nopoly in  New  Jersey."  In  comparing  the  rates  of  travel  in  various 
States,  by  which  it  is  shown  that  the  rates  in  New  Jersey  are  the  highest 
in  the  world,  the  author  says  of  the  traveller : 

Arriving  in  Maryland,  a  slave  State,  he  circulates  at  a  cost  of  from  three  to  five 
cents  per  mile. 

Circumstance.  Not  a  circumstance,  in  the  sense  of  a  thing  of  no  account, 
nothing  in  comparison,  is  a  vulgarism  which  has  become  popular  within 
the  last  few  years. 

I  never  saw  so  lean  and  spare  a  gall  as  Miss  A since  I  was  raised.    Pharaoh's 

lean  kine  war  n't  the  smallest  part  of  a  circumstance  to  her.    I  had  to  look  twice  he- 
fore  I  could  see  her  at  all.  — Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  184. 

Cisco.  The  popular  name  of  a  fish  of  the  herring  kind  which  abounds  in 
Lake  Ontario,  particularly  in  Chaumont  Bay  at  the  east  end,  where 
thousands  of  barrels  are  annually  caught  and  salted.  I  do  not  find  this 
name  mentioned  by  Dr.  DeKay,  in  his  work  on  the  fishes  of  New  York, 
in  the  Natural  History  of  the  State. 

To  Citizenize.  To  make  a  citizen,  to  admit  to  the  rank  and  privileges 
of  a  citizen.  —  Webster.     Rarely  used. 

Talleyrand  was  citizenized  in  Pennsylvania,  when  there  in  the  form  of  an  emi- 
grant. —  T.  Pickering. 

CiTESS.  This  word,  as  weU  as  citizeness,  was  used  in  America  during  the 
first  years  of  the  French  Revolution,  as  a  translation  of  the  revolutionary 


84  CIV— CLA 

title,  citoyenne  ;  but  it  has,  for  several  years,  been  wholly  disused.  — 
Pickering's  Vocabulary. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  recite  the  discussions  on  this  word  by  the  British 
critics,  the  Quarterly  Review,  etc.,  as  it  was  never  adopted  into  our  lan- 
guage. Dr.  Webster  and  the  English  lexicographers  have  the  word 
citess  in  their  dictionaries,  but  only  in  the  sense  of  "  a  city  v.  oman." 

CiviSM.  Love  of  country  ;  patriotism.  —  Webster.  This,  like  the  preced- 
ing word,  is  one  of  the  productions  of  the  French  Revolution;  and, 
though  frequently  used  several  years  ago,  is  now  obsolete  here  as  well  as 
in  France. — Pickering's  Vocabulary. 

CiviLizEE.  A  civilized  man;  one  advanced  in  civilization.  The  word 
has  never  obtained  currency. 

"The  barbarian  likes  his  seraglio  ;  the  civiUzee  admires  the  institution  of  marriage. 
The  barbarian  lil<es  a  roving,  wandering  life ;  the  civiUzee  likes  his  home  and  fire- 
side. —  New  York  Observer. 

Clabber.     See  Bonny- Clabber. 

Claim.  A  piece  of  public  land  which  a  squatter  marks  out  for  himself  and 
settles  upon,  with  the  intention  of  purchasing  it  when  the  government 
will  oflfer  it  for  sale. 

Claim-jumper.     One  who  violently  seizes  on  another's  land  claim. 

Claim-jumping.     Violently  seizing  on  another's  claim. 

Clam.  The  popular  name  ftf  certain  shell-fish,  highly  esteemed  for  food. 
They  are  of  two  principal  kinds  : 

1.  The  Hard  Clam  ( Venus  mercenaria),  a  very  common  mollusk, 
found  buried  in  the  sand  or  shores  of  marine  districts  at  half-tide. 

2.  The  Soft  Clam,  or  Mananosay  (Mya  arenaria),  obtained  from  the 
shores  of  tidal  rivers  by  digging  one  or  two  feet  in  the  loose  sand.  It 
has  a  long,  extensible,  cartilaginous  snout,  or  proboscis,  through  which  it 
ejects  water ;  whence  it  is  also  called  Stem-clam  and  Piss-clam. 

Clam-bake.  Clams,  baked  in  the  primitive  style  of  the  Indians,  furnish 
one  of  the  most  popular  dishes  on  those  parts  of  the  coast  where  they 
abound,  and  constitute  a  main  feature  in  the  bill  of  fare  at  pic-nics  and 
other  festive  gatherings.  The  method  of  baking  is  as  follows :  A  cavity 
is  dug  in  the  earth,  about  eighteen  inches  deep,  which  is  lined  with 
round  stones.  On  this  a  fire  is  made ;  and,  when  the  stones  are  suffi- 
ciently heated,  a  bushel  or  more  of  hard  clams  (according  to  the  number 
of  persons  who  are  to  partake  of  the  feast)  is  thrown  upon  them.  On 
this  is  put  a  layer  of  rock-weed  gathered  from  the  beach,  and  over  this  a 
second  layer  of  sea-weed.  Sometimes  the  clams  are  simply  placed  close 
together  on  the  ground,  with  the  hinges  uppermost,  and  over  them  is 


CLA— CLE  85 

made  a  fire  of  brush.  This  is  called  an  Indian  bed  of  clams.  Clams 
baked  in  this  manner  are  preferred  to  those  cooked  in  the  usual  way  in 
the  kitchen. 

Parties  of  ten  or  twenty  persons,  of  both  sexes,  are  the  most  common. 
Often  they  extend  to  a  hundred,  when  other  amusements  are  added ;  and 
on  one  occasion,  that  of  a  grand  political  mass-meeting  in  favor  of  Gen. 
Harrison  on  the  4th  of  July,  1840,  nearly  10,000  persons  assembled  in 
Rhode  Island,  for  whom  a  clambake  and  chowder  were  prepared.  This 
was  probably  the  greatest  feast  of  the  kind  that  ever  took  place  in  New 
England. 

Clam-shell.  The  lips,  or  mouth.  There  is  a  common  though  vulgar 
expression  in  New  England,  of  "  Shut  your  clam-shell,"  that  is,  "  Shut 
your  mouth,  hold  your  tongue."  The  padlock  now  used  on  the  United 
States  mail-bags  is  called  the  "  Clam-shell  padlock." 

Clapboard.  A  thtu,  narrow  board,  used  to  cover  the  sides  of  houses,  and 
placed  so  as  to  overlap  the  one  below  it.  In  England,  according  to 
Bailey's  Dictionary,  a  clapboard  is  a  thin  board  formed  ready  for  the 
cooper's  use,  in  order  to  make  casks  or  vessels. 

To  Clapboakd.     To  cover  with  clapboarding. 

The  house  was  neat  and  comfortable.  It  was  a  small  frame  building,  clapboarded 
on  the  sides  and  roof.  — Margaret,  p.  18. 

Clape.  The  common  name  of  the  Golden-winged  Woodpecker,  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  Dr.  DeKay  thinks  it  "  a  provincial  word,  intro- 
duced by  the  early  English  colonists."  It  is  elsewhere  called  High-hole, 
Yucker,  Flicker,  "Wake-up,  and  Pigeon  Woodpecker ;  in  Louisiana,  Pique- 
hois  jaune. —  Iffat.  Hist,  of  New  Tork. 

Clattekwhackixg.     a  clatter,  racket. 

When  we  went  a  bar  hunting,  I  heard  the  damdest  clatterwhacking  and  noise  in 
the  road  behind  us.  — Southern  Sketches,  p.  32, 

Clay-eaters.  A  miserable  set  of  people  inhabiting  some  of  the  Southern 
States,  who  subsist  chiefly  on  turpentine  whiskey,  and  appease  their 
cravbig  for  more  substantial  food  by  filling  their  stomachs  with  a  kind  of 
alumiaous  earth  which  abounds  everywhere.  This  gives  them  a  yel- 
lowish, drab-colored  complexion,  with  dull  eyes,  and  faces  whose  idiotic 
expression  is  only  varied  by  a  duU  despair  or  a  devilish  malignity.  They 
are  looked  down  upon  by  the  negroes  with  a  contempt  which  they  return 
by  a  hearty  hatred.  —  Ida  May. 
The  Clean  Thing.  A  low  expression,  denoting  propriety,  or  what  is 
honorable. 

It  is  admitted,  that  sending  out  ships  to  plunder  your  neighbor  or  adversary  is  as 
much  as  mere  words  in  making  war.  I  do  n't  like  it.  It  is  n't  the  dean  thing.  — 
Crockett,  Tour,  p.  193. 

8 


86  CLE  — CLE 

A  man  may  be  the  straight  thing,  that  is,  right  up  and  down  like  a  cow's  tail ;  but 
♦     hang  me  if  ho  can  be  the  clean  thing  any  how  he  can  fix  it.  —  S.  Slick,  Human 
Nature,  p.  53. 

Clean  Ticket.  The  entire  regularly  nominated  ticket  at  an  election  ;  a 
ticket  without  any  erasures.  "  He  went  the  clean  ticket  on  the  Whig 
Nominations." 

Clearing.  A  place  or  tract  of  land  cleared  of  wood  for  cultivation  ;  a 
common  use  of  the  word  in  America.  —  Webster. 

After  we  reached  the  boundaries  of  the  clearing  and  plunged  into  the  timbered 
land,  this  heat  was  exchanged  for  a  grotto-like  coolness.  —  Mrs.  Clavers,  Forest  Life, 
Vol.  I.  p.  64. 

Clearing  House.  An  establishment  recently  organized  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  where  clerks  from  the  various  banks  daily  meet  to  settle 
the  balances  of  their  respective  institutions. 

To  Clear  out.  To  take  oneself  off;  to  depart,  decamp.  A  vulgar  ex- 
pression. 

This  thing  of  man-worship  I  am  a  stranger  to ;  I  don't  like  it ;  it  taints  every 
action  of  life  ;  it  is  like  a  skunk  getting  into  a  house  —  long  after  he  has  cleared  out, 
you  smell  him  in  every  room  and  closet  from  the  cellar  to  the  garret.  —  Crockett's 
Speech,  Tour,  p.  74. 

I  turned  round,  and  was  going  to  clear  out.  But,  says  he,  Stop,  Mister !  —Major 
Downing's  May-day  in  New  York. 

Clear  Swing.     Good  opportunity.     See  Full  Swing. 

As  soon  as  civilization  arrives  at  years  of  discretion,  we  expect  to  see  our  cities 
purged  of  rowdyism,  incentives  to  vice  abated,  and  a  clear  swing  and  ample  reward 
granted  to  labor  and  intelligence.  — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

To  Clerk,  or  to  clerk  it.  To  act  in  the  capacity  of  a  clerk.  In 
common  use  at  the  West,  and  occasionally  heard  in  New  York. 

Teacliing,  clerking,  law,  etc.,  are  so  very  precarious  except  to  men  of  established 
reputation  and  business,  that  it  is  next  to  madness  for  a  youth  to  come  here  relying 
upon  them.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  April  19,  1849. 

Young  Soublette  had  been  clerking  down  to  the  fort  on  the  Platte,  so  he  know'd 
something.  —  Ruxton,  Far  West,  p.  17. 

I  was  struck  with  the  original  mode  in  which  the  young  gentleman  who  was 
clerking  it  managed  his  spelling.  —  A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p.  197. 

Clever.  The  following  are  the  English  senses  of  this  word  as  given  by 
Dr.  Worcester :  Dexterous,  skilful  (^Addison) ;  just,  fit,  proper,  com- 
modious (Pope)  ;  well-shaped,  handsome  (Arbuthnot). 

In  the  United  States,  clever  is  much  used  as  a  colloquial  word  in  the 
sense  of  good-natured,  well-disposed,  honest;  and  the  phrase  ''clever 
man  "  or  "  clever  fellow,"  is  employed  to  denote  a  person  of  good-nature, 
good  disposition,  or  good  intention.  —  Worcester's  Dictionary. 


CLE  — CLI  87 

The  landlord  of  the  hotel  was  a  very  clever  man,  and  made  me  feel  quite  at  home 
in  his  house.  —  Crockett's  Tour  Down  East,  p.  22. 

It  is  related  that  an  English  lady  arriving  in  New  York,  being  recom- 
mended to  take  a  servant  girl  who  was  described  to  her  as  clever  but  not 
smart,  answered,  that  such  a  maid  would  suit  her  admirably.  But  she 
soon  learned  that  her  new  acquisition  was  merely  inoffensive  and  duU  ; 
whereas,  she  had  expected  one  brisk  and  intelligent,  without  being  showy 
or  dressy.  "We  sometimes  hear  the  expressions  "  English  clever "  and 
"  Yankee  clever "  used  to  indicate  the  sense  in  which  the  word  is  to  be 
taken. 

Cleverly.  This  is  much  used  in  some  parts  of  New  England,  instead 
of  well  or  very  well.  In  answer  to  the  common  salutation,  "  How  do  you 
do  ? "  we  often  hear,  "  I  am  cleverly."  It  is  also  used  in  the  sense 
of  fairly,  completely. 

The  landlord  comes  to  me,  as  soon  as  I  was  cleverly  up  this  morning,  looking  full 
of  importance.  — Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  8. 

Cleverness.  Mildness  or  agreeableness  of  disposition  ;  obligingness  ; 
good  nature.     Used  in  New  England.  —  Webster. 

Clevis,  or  Clevy.  An  iron,  bent  to  the  form  of  an  ox-bow,  with  the  two 
ends  perforated  to  receive  a  pin,  used  on  the  end  of  a  cart-neap,  to  hold 
the  chain  of  the  forward  horse  or  oxen ;  or,  a  draft-iron  on  a  plow.  — 
Webster. 

Cliff.  A  part  of  the  Silurian  limestones  of  the  West  have  been  called 
"  Cliff"  limestone,"  from  the  bold  cliffs  found  on  the  banks  of  streams. 
The  word  much  used  in  this  way  is  usually  pronounced  cUfts  and 
hence  the  adjective  clifty,  frequently  applied  to  streams  as  a  proper 
name.     Thus,  "  a  clifty  country  "  is  one  abounding  in  cliffs. 

Climb  down.     To  climb,  is  to  ascend,  to  mount,  to  rise ;  but  in  no  sense 
to  descend.     Yet  we  sometimes  find  it  used  with  the  latter  signification. 
Thus,  Mr.  H.  Ward  Beecher,  in  describing  his  visit  to  Oxford,  says  : 
To  climb  down  the  wall  was  easy  enough,  too  easy  for  a  man  who  did  not  love 
wetting. 

And  again  — 

I  partly  climbed  down,  and  wholly  clambered  back  again,  satisfied  that  it  was 
easier  to  get  myself  in,  than  to  get  the  flowers  out.  —  Star  Papers,  p.  41. 

Clincker  Built.  A  term  applied  to  a  class  of  boats  in  which  the  lower 
edge  of  every  plank  overlays  the  next  under  it,  like  clapboards  on  the 
side  of  a  house.     It  is  a  variation  of  the  English  term  clincher-built. 

Cling,  or  Clingstone.  A  variety  of  the  peach  in  which  the  flesh  ad- 
heres, or  clings,  firmly  to  the  stone.     When  the  stone  readily  separates 


88  CLI  — CLU 

from  the  flesh,  they  are  called  free-stones  or  open  stones.  The  word 
peach  frequently  designates  the  free-stone,  while  the  others  are  called 
clings. 

Clip.  A  blow  or  stroke  with  the  hand  ;  as,  "  He  hit  him  a  clip." —  Webster. 
Provincial  in  England  and  the  Northern  States. 

To  Clip.  To  cut,  to  run.  Probably  from  the  motion  of  a  bird's  wings, 
which  strike  or  beat  the  air  as  it  flies  or  runs. 

Some  falcon  stoops  at  what  her  eye  designed, 

And,  with  her  eagerness  the  quarry  missed. 

Straight  flies  at  check,  and  clips  it  down  the  wind.  — Dryden. 

I  had  n't  much  time  left, so  I  ran  all  the  way,  right  down  as  hard  as  I 

could  clip.  — Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  8. 

Clipper.  A  cutter ;  a  small  schooner  with  raking  masts,  built  and  rigged 
with  a  view  to  fast  sailing.  Larger  vessels  are  sometimes  built  after  the 
same  model,  when  they  are  said  to  be  clipper-built. 

Clipper-Ship.  Ships  built  in  the  clipper  style,  with  a  special  view  to 
quick  voyages ;  clipper-built  ships.  They  owed  their  origin  to  the  im- 
mensely profitable  trade  which  sprang  up  between  the  Atlantic  sea-port8 
and  San  Francisco,  soon  after  the  occupation  of  California  by  Americans 
from  the  United  States. 

Clitchy.  Clammy,  sticky,  glutinous.  —  Pickering's  Vocah.  Mr.  Picker- 
ing says,  he  has  "  heard  this  word  used  in  a  few  instances  by  old  people 
in  New  England;  but  it  is  rarely  heard."  In  Devonshire,  England, 
they  use  the  verb  to  ditch,  meaning  to  stick,  to  adhere,  to  become  thick 
or  glutinous.     From  this  our  word  is  evidently  derived. 

Clockmutch.  (Dutch,  klapmuts,  a  night-cap.)  A  woman's  cap  com- 
posed of  three  pieces,  —  a  straight  centre  one,  from  the  forehead  to  the 
neck,  with  two  side  pieces.     A  New  York  term. 

Clothier.  A  man  Avhose  occupation  is  to  full  and  dress  cloth.  —  Webster. 
In  England,  a  clothier  is  one  who  makes  or  deals  at  wholesale  in  cloth. 
Mr.  Pickering  observes,  that  "  although  we  use  clothier  for  fuller,  yet 
the  place  where  the  cloth  is  cleansed  and  dressed  is  called  a  fulling- 
mill." 

To  Cloud  up.    To  grow  cloudy ;  to  cloud  over. 

Although  the  morning  was  fine  and  pleasant,  it  clouded  up  before  eight  o'clock  and 
commenced  raining.  —  Bryant's  Journey  to  California,  p.  43. 

Club-tail.  The  common  shad,  the  fatter  portion  of  which  have  the  tail 
swollen,  and  on  the  coast  of  Carolina,  where  they  are  taken,  are  caJled 
club-tails.  —  Nat.  Hist.  N.  T. 


CLU  — COB  89 

To  Clutter  up.  To  crowd  together  in  disorder,  to  fill  with  things  in  con- 
fusion ;  as,  "  to  clutter  up  a  room." 

Coal.  The  English  generally  use  the  plural  coals  ;  and  we  as  generally 
use  the  singular  collectively.  Coals  with  us  may  mean  charcoal,  in 
England,  never. 

Coal -HOD.  A  kettle  for  carrying  coals  to  the  fire.  More  frequently 
called,  as  in  England,  a  coal-scuttle.  JMr.  Halliwell,  in  his  Die.  of  Prov., 
has  coal-hood,  a  wooden  coal-scuttle,  a  term  which  is  used  in  the  eastern 
part  of  England. 

To  Coast.  To  slide  down  hill  with  sleds  on  the  snow ;  a  term  used  by 
boys  in  New  England. 

Coasting.     The  amusement  of  sliding  down  hill  with  sleds  on  the  snow. 

I  guess  aunt  Libby  never  broke  one  of  the  runners  of  her  sled  some  Saturday 
afternoon,  when  it  was  prime  coasting.  —  Fanny  Fern. 

Coat.  Used  in  the  South  for  petticoat.  Formerly  common,  and  still  pro- 
vincial, in  England. 

Cob.  The  spike  on  which  the  kernels  of  maize,  or  Indian  com,  grow. 
"When  the  corn  is  attached  to  it,  it  is  called  an  "  ear."  The  old  English 
word  coh,  the  top  or  head  (from  the  Saxon  cop),  is  doubtless  the  origin 
of  the  term. 

The  following  short  but  pithy  dialogue  is  represented  as  passing  be- 
tween two  Virginia  negroes  soon  after  the  surrender  of  Lord  ComwaUis, 
at  the  siege  of  Yorktown  : 

Mingo.  —  Halloo,  brudder  Sam ;  how  you  do  ? 
Sam.  —  O,  don't  know,  brudder  Mingo ;  mighty  poorly. 
Mingo.  —  Poorly  !  indeed !  you  no  hear  de  news  ■? 
Sam.  —  No.     What  sorter  news  1 

Mingo.  —  Why,  don't  you  know  dat  are  great  man  dey  call  Comwallis  ? 
Sam.  —  Yes,  I  hera  nuff  'bout  him  shooting  after  white  folks  all  over  de  coun- 
try. 
Mingo.  —  Well,  I  spose  you  know  Gin'ral  Washington  1 
Sam.  —  O,  yes !  I  know  ole  masser. 

Mingo.  —  Well,  I  tell  you  what :  he  no  Comwallis  now,  he  Cb6wallis ;  Gin'ral 
Washington  shell  all  de  com  off  him  too  slick. —  Cherokee  Phoenix,  May  21,  1828. 

CoBB.  A  blow  on  the  buttock.  Wright,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Obsolete  and 
Provincial  English,  explains  the  word  as  follows :  "  A  punishment  used 
among  seamen  for  petty  offences  or  irregularities,  by  bastinadoing  the 
offender  on  the  posteriors  with  a  cobbing-stick  or  pipe-staff." 

Should  any  negro  be  found  vending  spirituous  liquors,  without  permission  from 
his  owner,  such  negro  so  offending  shall  receive  fifteen  colbs  or  paddles  for  every 
such  offence,  from  the  hands  of  the  patrollers  of  the  settlement  or  neighborhood  in 
which  the  offence  was  committed.  —  Cherokee  Phoenix,  April  10,  1828. 

8* 


90  COB— COF 

COBBLEK.  1.  A  drink  made  of  wine,  sugar,  lemon,  and  pounded  ice,  and 
imbibed  througli  a  straw  or  other  tube  ;  as,  a  "  sherry  cohhler." 

2,  A  sort  of  pie,  baked  in  a  pot  lined  with  dough  of  great  thickness, 
upon  which  the  fruit  is  placed ;  according  to  the  fruit,  it  is  an  apple  or  a 
peach  cobbler.     Western. 

Cobble-Stone.  a  roundish  stone ;  a  small  boulder,  such  as  is  used  for 
paving.  Mr.  Halliwell  informs  us  that  the  word  cobble  is  used  in  this 
sense  in  the  North  of  England ;  and  cites  from  old  authors  the  terms 
cobbled  stones  and  cobbling  stones,  which  last  suggests  that  the  origin 
of  the  word  is  the  use  of  such  boulders  by  cobblers  for  a  lapstone. 

COCKAROUSE.  A  title  of  honor  among  the  Indians  of  Virginia,  and  long 
afterwards  used  by  the  English  settlers  as  a  term  for  a  person  of  conse- 
quence. 

A  cocJcarouse  is  one  that  has  the  honor  to  be  of  the  king  or  queen's  council,  with 
relation  to  the  affairs  of  government.  —  Beverly's  Virginia,  1705,  Book  III. 

"With  spur  of  punch  which  lay  in  pate 
E'er  long  we  lighted  at  the  gate  ; 
Where,  in  an  ancient  cedar  house, 
Dwelt  my  new  friend,  a  cockerouse. 

The  Sot-weed  Factor  ;  or,  Along  up  to  Maryland,  1708. 

Cocktail.  A  stimulating  beverage,  made  of  brandy  or  gin,  mixed  with 
sugar  and  a  very  little  water. 

In  the  American's  Apostrophe  to  Bon  Gaultier,  addressed  to  Dickens, 
after  his  visit  to  the  United  States,  he  says : 

Did  we  spare  our  brandy  cocktails,  stint  thee  of  our  whiskey-grogs  ? 
Half  the  juleps  that  we  gave  thee  would  have  floored  a  Newman  Noggs. 

Book  of  Ballads. 

Coco  Grass.  An  insidious  grass  or  weed  much  dreaded  by  Southern 
planters,  as  it  will  speedily  overrun  and  ruin  any  field  in  which  it  takes 
root. 

Cocoa-nut.  The  well-known  fruit  of  the  Cocos  nucifera,  a  kind  of  palm 
which  is  a  native  of  the  West  Indies  and  South  America,  as  well  as  of 
the  other  parts  of  the  world. 

Cocos,  or  Eddoes.  The  tuberous  root  of  the  Arum  esculentum,  the  prin- 
cipal dependence  for  a  supply  of  food  among  the  laboring  population 
of  the  West  Indies. 

Codding.  Fishing  for  codfish.  A  common  term  in  New  England  sea- 
ports, where  vessels  are  fitted  out  for  the  purpose. 

Coffee-house.  At  the  South  and  in  some  parts  of  the  West,  this  term  is 
used  to  signify  a  bar-room. 


COF  — COL  91 

CoFFETE-TREE,  or  KENTUCKY  CoFFEE-TREE.  {Gymnocladus  Canadensis.) 
An  ornamental  tree  with  valuable  wood,  the  seeds  of  which  were  once 
used  as  a  substitute  for  coffee. 

Coffin-boat.     See  Battery. 

Cohosh,  sometimes  called  Black  Cohosh  or  Black  Snake-root  {Cimicifuga 
racemosa),  a  weU-known  medicinal  plant.  There  are  also  White  and 
Blue  Cohosh,  other  allied  plants. 

White  cohush  -vrill  bring  out  the  whelk  in  less  than  no  time ;  and  brook  lime  will 
break  any  fever.  — Margaret,  p.  375. 

Cold,  adj.  Applied  in  a  peculiar  way  to  those  who  do  not  engage  in  some 
particular  undertaking,  e.  g.  a  revival  in  a  church  (this  seems  to  be  the 
original  use),  a  railroad  company,  a  bank,  or  even  a  conspiracy  to  cheat 
some  one.     He  who  does  not  earnestly  engage  in  it  is  said  to  be  cold. 

How  many  shares  in  the Bank  have  been  subscribed  to-day  1    Wliy,  Smith 

took  ten  and  Jones  twenty.    And  how  many  did  Jackson  take  1     Oh,  he 's  cold, 
he  'd  only  take  one,  provided  I  'd  swap  horses  with  him. 

Cold  as  Presbyterian  Charity.    I  know  not  the  origin  of  this  saying, 
and  am  not  aware  that  there  is  less  charity  in  this  sect  than  in  any  other. 
They  are  cold  as  Presbyterian  charity,  and  mean  enough  to  put  the  sun  in  eclipse, 
are  the  English.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England. 

Why,  Colonel,  the  river  is  pretty  considerable  for  a  run ;  but  the  water  is  cool  as 
Presbyterian  charity.  —  Crockett's  Tour. 

It  was  common  in  England,  particularly  during  and  after  Cromwell's 
time,  to  ridicule  the  Presbyterians ;  thus  Hudibras  says : 

When  thou  at  any  tiling  would'st  rail 
Thou  mak'st  Presbytery  thy  scale. 
As  if  Presbytery  were  a  standard 
To  size  whatever 's  to  be  slandered. 

Part  I.  Canto  3. 

Cold  Flour.  A  preparation  made  of  Indian  corn  (maize)  parched  and 
pulverized,  mixed  with  one  third  its  quantity  of  sugar.  Two  or  three 
teaspoonfuls  of  this  compound  stirred  in  a  glass  of  water  wiU  answer  for 
a  meal  when  food  is  scarce.     See  Nocake  and  Pinole. 

Collector.  There  are  three  principal  officers  in  each  of  the  large  Cus- 
tom Houses  in  this  country,  the  Collector,  Naval  Officer,  and  Surveyor. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  collector  to  receive  all  manifests,  reports,  and  documents  re- 
quired to  be  made  or  exhibited  on  the  entry  of  any  vessel  or  cargo ;  record  all 
manifests,  and,  together  with  the  naval  officer,  estimate  the  amount  of  duties  paya- 
ble on  imports,  indorsing  the  same  on  the  respective  entries ;  receive,  or  secure  by 
bond,  payment  of  duties ;  grant  permits  for  the  unlading  or  delivery  of  imports ; 
and,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  employ  persons  as 
inspectors,  weighers,  gaugers,  measurers,  and  clerks.  —  Act  March  2,  1 797. 


C^»^?-.'/>£ 


92  COL  — COM 

Colored.     A  term  applied  to  persons  who  have  negro  blood  in  their  veins. 

To  Come.  To  make  come,  in  "Western  parlance,  applied  to  game,  means  to 
bring  it  down  with  your  rifle. 

Well,  them  English  are  darned  fools,  they  can't  fix  a  rifle  any  ways  ;  but  that 
one  did  shoot  "  some  ;  "  leastwise  he  made  it  throw  plumb-centre.  He  made  the 
buffer  come,  he  did,  and  fout  well  at  Pawnee  Fork  too.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the 
Times. 

To  make  drunk  come,  means  to  produce  intoxication. 

To  Come  abound.  To  coax,  wheedle,  entice.  To  get  around  is  used  in 
the  same  sense. 

Mrs.  Truxton,  besides  doing  the  wasliing  for  a  number  of  families,  and  making 
shrouds  on  funeral  occasions,  was  a  great  stickler  for  equal  marriages ;  and  observed 
that  "  it  was  onaccountable  to  her  that  such  a  proper  nice  young  man  as  Mr.  Pad- 
delford  could  be  pervailed  on  to  go  and  marry  sech  a  gal  as  that  Sally  Ann  Lyncs." 
"But  yet,"  she  continued,  as  though  she  had  reflected  further  on  the  subject,  "I 
can  tell  you  how  it 's  all  been  brought  about ;  they  've  come  around  that  young  man, 
they  've  come  around  him.  Oh,  don't  I  know  that  old  Mrs.  Lyons,"  (she  meant 
Sally  Ann's  mother,)  "  she 's  cunning  as  a  shark."  — A  Wedding  at  Nutmegville. 

To  Come  out.  1.  An  expression  used  among  certain  religious  enthusi- 
asts, meaning  to  make  an  open  profession  of  religion. 

I  experienced  religion  at  one  of  brother  Armstrong's  protracted  meetin's.  Them 
special  efforts  is  great  things  — ever  since  I  come  out,  I  've  felt  like  a  new  critter.  — 
Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  108. 

2.  "  How  did  you  come  out  f  "  means,  how  did  you  fare  in  your  under- 
taking ?  Come  off  would  be  more  agreeable  to  English  usage.  To 
come  out  at  the  little  end  of  the  horn,  means  to  fare  badly,  to  fail. 

Can  you  wonder  that  the  blue  noses  who  keep  such  an  unprofitable  stock  came 
out  at  the  small  eend  of  the  horn  in  the  long  run.  — Sam  Slick,  1st  series. 

Come-outers.  This  name  has  been  applied  to  a  considerable  number  of 
persons  in  various  parts  of  the  Northern  States,  principally  in  New  Eng- 
land, who  have  recently  come  out  of  the  various  religious  denominations 
with  which  they  have  been  connected ;  hence  the  name.  They  have  not 
themselves  assumed  any  distinctive  organization.  They  have  no  creed, 
believing  that  every  one  should  be  left  free  to  hold  such  opinions  on  re- 
ligious subjects  as  he  pleases,  without  being  held  accountable  for  the 
same  to  any  human  authority. 

They  hold  a  diversity  of  opinions  on  many  points  —  some  believing  in 
the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and  others  that  they  are  but 
human  compositions.  They  believe  Jesus  Christ  to  have  been  a  divinely 
inspired  teacher,  and  his  religion,  a  revelation  of  eternal  truth;  that 
according  to  his  teachings,  true  religion  consists  in  purity  of  heart,  holi- 


COM— CON  93 

ness  of  life,  and  not  in  opinions ;  that  Christianitj,  as  it  existed  in 
Christ,  is  a  life  rather  than  a  belief.  —  Evanses  History  of  Religions, 
with  Additions  hy  an  Amencan  Editor. 

I  am  a  Christian  man  of  the  sect  called  come-outers,  and  have  had  experience ;  and 
when  I  meet  the  brethren,  sometimes  I  speak  a  word  in  season.  —  S.  Slick,  Human 
Nature. 

To  Come  over.  To  come  over,  or  come  it  over  one,  means  to  get  the  ad- 
vantage of  one.     Vulgar. 

To  Come  up  to  the  Chalk.  To  come  up  to  the  mark,  i.  e.  to  do  one's 
duty,  fulfil  one's  promises. 

Commissioner.  A  government  officer,  the  next  in  rank  to  a  Secretary. 
Thus  the  Commissioner  of  Patents,  the  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office, 
and  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affiurs,  are  subordinates  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior. 

Common.  " As  well  as  common"  is  an  expression  much  in  use  for  " as 
well  as  usual." 

Common  doings.  Originally  employed  in  the  "West  to  designate  plain  or 
common  food  in  opposition  to  dainties ;  but  now  applied  to  persons,  ac- 
tions, or  things  in  general  of  an  inferior  kind.     See  Chicken  Fixings. 

Commoner.  "  The  great  Commoner,-'  is  an  epithet  often  applied  to  Henry 
Clay. 

Complected.     Of  a  certain  complexion,  colored  in  the  face.     Western. 

That  lady  is  mighty  pale  complected.  I  'm  afeard  she 's  consumpted ;  she 's  always 
complaining  of  some  misery.  —  Western  Sketches. 

You  're  rather  dark  complected,  and  blue  is  a  trying  color  for  dark  skins.  — Widow 
Bedott  Papers. 

Compliment.    A  present.     South-Western. 

Concageer.  a  name  apphed  to  the  small  lizards  and  salamanders  of  the 
United  States. 

Concern.  In  mercantile  usage,  an  establishment  or  firm  for  the  transac- 
tion of  business.  It  is  provincial  in  England  and  Ireland,  where  it  de- 
notes a  small  estate ;  business. 

Concerned.  (Pron.,  consumed.)  A  euphonistic  Yankeeism,  equivalent 
to  deuced,  devilish,  i.  e.  very,  greatly. 

You  can  keep  your  money.  I  'm  consamed  sorry  for  it,  but  I  must  take  that  ar 
yaller  gal  back  with  me.  — A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p.  51. 

To  Conduct,  instead  of  "  to  conduct  oneself;  "  leaving  out  the  reflexive 


94  CON— CON 

pronoun.  This  offensive  barbarism  is  happily  confined  to  New  England, 
where  it  is  common  both  in  speech  and  writing.  Like  some  other  ex- 
pressions in  the  same  predicament,  it  has  received  the  tacit  sanction  of 
Dr.  Webster,  himself  a  New  England  man. 

Conductor.  The  man  who  takes  the  fare,  and  has  charge  generally  of  a 
railroad  train. 

CoNESTOGA  Horse.  A  heavy  draught  horse  well  known  in  the  States  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  Before  the  introduction  of  railroads,  they 
were  the  great  carriers  of  produce  from  the  interior  of  Pennsylvania  to 
the  sea-board.  Six  and  sometimes  more  of  these  noble  animals  attached 
to  a  huge  white-topped  waggon  were  a  marked  feature  in  the  landscape  of 
this  State.  They  oi'iginated  in  Pennsylvania,  towards  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  and  are  beheved  to  have  descended  from  a  mixture  of  the 
Flemish  cart-horse  with  an  English  breed.  —  Herbert,  Horse  and  Horse' 
manship. 

CoNESTOGA  Waggon.  A  waggon  of  the  kind  described  in  the  preceding 
article,  first  made  in  Conestoga,  a  township  of  Lancaster  county,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Confectionary.  Li  the  South-west  and  some  parts  of  the  West,  a  bar- 
room. 

Congress.  This  term  is  apphed  by  us  especially  to  three  differently  con- 
stituted bodies  of  representatives  of  the  people  that  have  succeeded  each 
other  in  the  government  of  the  country.  The  first  is  the  Continental 
Congress,  assembled  in  1774,  and  which  conducted  the  national  affairs 
until  near  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  The  second  is  the  Federal  Con- 
gress, which  met  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  adopted  March, 
1781,  and  ruled  the  country  till  1789.  The  third  is  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  which  first  met  under  the  Constitution,  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1789. 

Mr.  Pickering  remarks,  that  English  writers,  in  speaking  of  American 
affairs,  generally  say,  "  the  Congress,"  using  the  article.  Such  was  for- 
merly our  own  practice ;  but  in  the  course  of  time  it  has  acquired  with 
us  the  force  of  a  proper  name,  so  that  we  now  speak  of  Congress,  as  the 
English  speak  of  Parliament.  When  the  present  Constitution  was 
adopted,  the  usage  was  still  fluctuating,  as  the  following  examples  will 
show: 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  year ;  and  such  meeting  shall 
be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they  shall  by  law  appoint  a  different 
day.  —  ^rt.  1.  Sec.  4. 

Neither  House,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the 


CON—CON  95 

other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which 
the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting.  — Art.  1,  Sec.  5. 

Congressional.  Pertaining  to  a  congress,  or  to  the  Congress  of  tlie 
United  States  ;   as,  congressional  debates.  —  Webster. 

The  congressional  institution  of  Amphictyons,  in  Greece.  — Barton. 
The  conflict  between  congressional  and  State  authority,  originated  with  the  crea- 
tion of  those  authorities.  —  Marshall,  Life  of  Washington. 

Congressman.    A  member  of  Congress. 

Our  congressmen,  my  dear  hearers,  what  are  they?  Nothing  but  bloodsuckers 
upon  the  cheek  of  the  United  States.  They  talk  and  drink  for  eight  dollars  a  day, 
and  you  have  to  stand  the  treat.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  3,  p.  137. 

CoNiACKER.     A  counterfeiter  of  coin. 

Connecticut.  One  of  the  New  England  States,  and  the  name  of  a  river. 
It  was  variously  spelled  by  the  early  colonists,  Quonectacut,  Quonaugh- 
ticut,  Conecticot,  etc. ;  and  is  said  to  mean,  in  the  Mohegan  language,  a 
long  river. 

Conner.     See  Burgall. 

Conniption  Fit.  This  term  is  exclusively  used  by  the  fair  sex,  who  can 
best  explain  its  meaning.  Ex.  "  George,  if  you  keep  coming  home  so 
late  to  dinner,  I  shall  have  a  conniption."  As  near  as  I  can  judge,  con- 
niption jits  are  tantrums. 

Sam  Slick,  in  his  visit  to  a  "  female  college,"  made  proposals  to  the  "  presi- 
dentress,"  which  she  at  first  imagined  was  for  her  hand.  On  discovering  her  error, 
she  fainted  and  fell  into  a  conniption  fit.  — Nature  and  Human  Nature. 

Considerable.  1.  A  good  deal.  This  word  is  frequently  used  in  the 
following  manner  in  the  Northern  States  :  "  He  is  considerable  of  a  sur- 
veyor ; "  "  Considerable  of  it  may  be  found  in  the  country."  — Pickering. 

Parson  Tuttle  's  considerable  of  a  man ;  but  in  my  opinion  he  won't  never  be  able 
to  hold  a  candle  to  Elder  Sniffles.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  128. 

2.  Pretty,  considerably.     A  common  vulgarism. 

A  body  has  to  stir  about  considerable  smart  in  this  country,  to  make  a  livin',  I  tell 
you.  — Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  6. 

To  CoNSOCiATE.  To  Unite  in  an  assembly  or  convention,  as  pastors  and 
messengers  or  delegates  of  churches.  —  Webster. 

Consociation.  Fellowship  or  union  of  churches  by  their  pastors  and 
delegates  ;  a  meeting  of  the  pastors  and  delegates  of  a  number  of  congre- 
gational churches,  for  aiding  and  supporting  each  other,  and  forming  an 
advisbry  council  in  ecclesiastical  affairs. —  Webster.  Consociation  of 
churches  is  their  mutual  and  solemn  agreement  to  exercise  communion 
in  such  acts  as  aforesaid,  amongst  themselves,  with  special  reference  to 
those  churches,  etc.  —  Result  of  the  Synod,  1662. 


96  CON— CON 

Constable.  Mr.  "Webster  notices  tlie  following  distinction  between  the 
application  of  this  word  in  England  and  in  the  United  States  :  "  In  Eng- 
land there  are  high  constables,  petty  constables,  and  constables  of  Lon- 
don. In  the  United  States  constables  are  town  or  city  officers  of  the 
peace,  with  powers  similar  to  those  possessed  by  the  constables  in  Great 
Britain."  Mr.  Pickering  says  that  "  in  many  of  the  cities,  boroughs, 
and  other  local  jurisdictions  in  England,  they  have  peace  officers  called 
constables,  whose  powers  are  not  materially,  if  at  all,  diflferent  from  those 
of  our  constables." 

Constituted  Authorities.  The  officers  of  government  collectively,  in 
a  kingdom,  city,  town,  etc.  This  expression  has  been  adopted  by  some 
of  our  writers  from  the  vocabulary  of  the  French  Revolution.  —  Picker- 
ing. 

Neither  could  he  perceive  danger  to  liberty  except  from  the  constituted  authorities, 
and  especially  from  the  executive.  — Marshall's  Washington. 

Constitutionality.  Used  chiefly  in  political  language,  to  signify  the 
state  of  being  agreeable  to  the  constitution  of  a  State  or  of  the  United 
States. 

The  argument  upon  this  question  has  naturally  divided  itself  into  two  parts,  the 
one  of  expediency,  the  other  oi  constitutionality.  — Ddxites  in  Congress  in  1802. 

The  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  have  the  power  of  deter- 
mining the  constitutionality  of  laws. — Webster. 

To  Contemplate.  To  consider  or  have  in  view,  in  reference  to  a  future 
act  or  event ;  to  intend.  —  Webster.  This  sense  of  the  word  is  not  found 
in  Johnson  or  Richardson. 

If  a  treaty  contains  any  stipulations  wliich  contemplate  a  state  of  future  war.  — 
Kent's  Commentaries. 

Contemplation.  !Mr.  Pickering  considers  that  the  phrase,  "I  have 
it  in  contemplation  to  do  such  a  thing,"  for  "  I  intend  to  do  such  a  thing," 
is  used  both  in  England  and  in  this  country,  but  more  frequently  in  the 
latter. 

Continental.  A  word  much  used  during  the  Revolution  to  designate 
what  appertained  to  the  Colonies  as  a  whole.  This  originated  before  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  when  the  term  "  United  States  "  was  em- 
ployed ;  yet,  continental,  variously  applied,  was  used  during  the  war,  as 
"  continental  troops,"  "  continental  money,"  etc.  Mr.  Irving,  in  his  Life 
of  Washington,  in  speaking  of  the  organization  of  the  American  army, 
say's :  "  Many  still  clung  to  the  idea,  that  in  all  these  proceedings  they 
were  merely  opposing  the  measures  of  the  ministry,  and  not  the  authox-ity 
of  the  crown ;  and  thus  the  army  before  Boston  was  designated  as  the 


CON— coo  97 

Continental  army,  in  contradistinction  to  that  under  General  Gage,  whichi 
was  called  the  Ministerial  army." 

This  word  will  remind  every  one  of  the  famous  reply  of  Col.  Ethan 
Allen,  when  asked  by  what  authority  he  summoned  Fort  Ticonderoga  tO' 
surrender.  "  I  demand  it,"  said  he,  "  in  the  name  of  the  great  Jehovah 
and  of  the  Continental  Congress ! " 

Contraption.     Contrivance,  device.     A  factitious  word  local  in  England. 

To  Convene.  This  is  used  in  some  parts  of  .New  England  in  a  very 
strange  sense ;  that  is,  to  he  convenient,  fit,  or  suitable.  Ex.  "  This  road 
will  convene  the  public,"  i.  e.  will  be  convenient  for  the  public.  The 
word,  however,  is  used  only  by  the  illiterate.  —  Pichering.  I  have  never 
heard  the  phrase. 

Convenient,  used  to  signify  "  near  at  hand,"  "  easy  of  access,"  is  an 
Irishism  frequently  pointed  out  by  English  critics,  which,  found  its  way 
even  into  President  Polk's  last  message,  where  it  is  applied  to  timber 
for  ship-bmlding  in  the  neighborhood  of  San  Francisco. 

Convention.  The  general  or  diocesan  synod  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States. 

Goodies.  The  name  of  a  poHtical  sect  in  the  State  of  New  York,,  which 
originated  in  the  year  1814.  At  that  time  a  series  of  well-written  arti- 
cles appeared  in  a  New  York  paper,  signed  Abimeleck  Coody.  He  pro- 
fessed to  be  a  mechanic.  "  He  was  a  federalist,  and  addressed  himself 
principally  to  the  party  to  which  he  belonged.  He  endeavored  to  show 
the  impropriety  of  opposing  the  war,  and  urged  them  to  come  forward  in 
defence  of  their  country.  He  also  attacked  De  Witt  Cliaton  with  great 
severity."  The  writer  was  ascertained  to  be  Mr.  Gulian  C.  Verplanck, 
then,  as  now,  distinguished  for  his  talents.  He  was  replied  to  by  a 
writer  under  the  signature  of  "  A  Traveller,"  said  to  be  De  "Witt  Clinton, 
who  thus  speaks  of  this  party :  "  The  political  sect  called  the  Coodies, 
of  hybrid  nature,  is  composed  of  the  combined  spawn  of  Federalism  and 
Jacobinism,  and  generated  in  the  venomous  passions  of  disappoiatment 
and  revenge,  without  any  definite  character ;  neither  fish  nor  flesh  nor 
bird  nor  beast,  but  a  nondescript  made  up  of  '  aU  monstrous,,  all  pro- 
digious things.' "  —  Hammond's  Polit.  Hist,  of  HT.  Y. 

CooKEY.  (Dutch,  koekfe.)  A  little  cake.  Used  in  New  York.  A  Ifew- 
Tear's  Coohey  is  a  peculiar  cake  made  only  in  New  York,  and  at  the 
Christmas  holidays.  In  the  olden  time,  each  visitor,  on  New- Year's  day, 
was  expected  to  take  one  of  these  cakes.  The  custom  is  stiU  practised 
to  a  considerable  extent. 

Mrs.  Child  thinks  it  best  to  let  the  little  dears  have  their  own  way  in  every  thing, 
9 


98  COO  — COO 

and  not  to  give  them  more  cookies  than  they,  the  dear  children,  deem  requisite.  — 
Sunday  Mercury,  N.  Y. 

Cooling-board.  The  board  on  which  a  dead  body  is  laid  out.  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Maryland. 

COOLWORT.  (Tiarella  cordifoUa.)  The  popular  name  of  an  herb,  the 
properties  of  which  are  diuretic  and  tonic.  It  is  prepared  for  sale 
by  the  Shakers. 

Coon.     1.  A  popular  contraction  of  raccoon,  the  name  of  an  animal. 

2.  A  nickname  applied  to  members  of  the  Whig  party,  which  adopted 
the  raccoon  as  an  emblem. 

Democrats,  freemen !  keep  your  council-fires  brightly  burning.  Let  no  one  remain 
listless,  or  doubt,  or  hesitate  ;  "  push  on  your  columns,"  rout  the  coons,  beat  them, 
overwhelm  them,  and  let  the  welkin  ring  with  the  soul-stirring  tidings  that  Massa- 
chusetts is  safe  —  free  from  the  curse  of  whiggery.  —  Boston  Post. 

Coon's  age.     A  long  time ;  as,  "  I  have  not  been  there  in  a  coon's  age." 

The  backwoodsman  jumps  from  his  horse,  and,  slapping  the  grave-looking  gen- 
tleman on  the  back,  says  :  "  Hallo,  old  boss,  whar  have  you  been  this  coon's  age?  " 
and  they  go  in  and  wood  up  [i.  e.  drink].  — A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas. 

This  child  haint  had  much  money  in  a  coon's  age.  —  Southern  Sketches. 
COONER.     A  common  term,  at  the  South,  for  a  canoe. 

CoONERT.    Whiggery.     See  Coon,  No.  2. 

Democrats  of  the  old  Bay  State,  one  charge  more  and  the  work  is  thoroughly 
done.  "  Once  more  to  the  breach,"  and  you  will  hear  the  shouts  of  Democratic 
victory,  and  the  lamentations  of  the  vanquished.  "We  must  achieve  a  victory  —  the 
people  must  be  free  —  coonery  must  fall  with  all  its  corruptions  and  abominations, 
never  more  to  rise.  —  Boston  Post. 

CoONTiE  Adka,  or  CooNTiE  Chatta.  The  name  of  an  arrow-root  prepa- 
ration obtained  from  the  root  of  Zamia  integrifolia  by  the  Indians  in 
Florida,  where  the  plant  is  indigenous. 

Cooping  of  Voters.  Collecting  and  confining  them,  several  days  previous 
to  an  election,  in  a  house  or  on  a  vessel  hired  for  the  purpose.  Here 
they  are  treated  with  good  living  and  liquors,  and  at  a  proper  day  are 
takea  to  the  polls  and  "  voted,"  as  it  is  called,  for  the  patty. 

Coot.  The  name  of  a  small  water-fowl  which  lives  in  marshes,  and,  when 
closely  pursued,  buries  its  head  in  the  mud.  It  is  often  applied  by  us  to 
•a  stupid  person  ;  as,  "  He  is  a  poor  coot."  Mr.  HaUiwell  notices  the  old 
proverbial  saying,  "  As  stupid  as  a  coot." 

Little  coot  I  don't  you  know  the  Bible  is  the  best  book  in  the  world  ?  —  Margaret, 
p.  134. 


COP  — COR  ;«? 

Copper.  A  copper  coin,  especially  a  British  halfpenny  or  American 
cent. 

My  friends  filled  my  pockets  with  coppers.  —  Franklin. 

Copperhead.     {Trigonocephalus  contortrix.)    A  poisonous  serpent,  whose  ff<f^cu 
bite  is  considered  as  deadly  as  that  of  the  rattlesnake.    Its  geographical 
range  extends  from  45°  north  latitude  to  Florida.    It  has  various  other 
popular  names,  as  Copper-belly,  Red  Viper,  Red  Adder,  Deaf  Adder, 
Dumb  Rattlesnake,  Chunk-head. 

CoRAX  Berry.  {Symphoricarpus  vulgaris.)  The  Indian  Currant  of 
Missouri. 

Cord.    A  large  quantity.    Western. 

CoRDELLE.     (French.)     A  tow-line.     Western. 

The  propelling  power  of  the  keel-boat  is  by  oars,  sails,  setting-poles,  the  corddle, 
etc. — Flinty  Hist,  of  Miss.  Valley. 

To  CoRDELLE.     To  drag  by  a  tow-line. 

We  were  obliged  to  cordeUe  the  boat  along  the  left  shore. — Fremont's  Report. 

Corduroy  road.  A  road  or  causeway  constructed  with  logs  laid  together 
over  swamps  or  marshy  places.  When  properly  finished,  earth  is  thrown 
between  them,  by  which  the  road  is  made  smooth ;  but  in  newly  settled 
parts  of  the  United  States  they  are  often  left  uncovered,  and  hence  are 
extremely  rough  and  bad  to  pass  over  with  a  carriage.  Sometimes  they 
extend  many  miles.  They  derive  their  name  from  their  resemblance  to 
a  species  of  ribbed  velvet,  called  corduroy. 

Corked.  A  term  applied  to  wine  which  has  acquired  a  taste  of  the 
cork. 

Corn.  {Zea  mays.)  Maize,  throughout  the  United  States,  is  called 
Indian  corn,  or  simply  corn. 

In  England  the  term  com  is  applied  generically  to  wheat,  barley,  and 
other  smaU  grains.     For  this  we  use  the  term  grain. 

Corn  and  Cob  Mill.    A  mill  for  grinding  the  entire  ear  of  Indian  com. 

Corn-basket.     A  large  basket  for  carrying  the  ears  of  maize.  —  Webster. 

Corn-blade.  The  leaf  of  the  maize.  Corn-blades  are  collected  and  used 
as  fodder  in  some  of  the  Southern  States.  —  Wehster. 

Corn-bread.    Unleavened  bread  made  from  the  meal  of  Indian  com. 

Corn-brooms.  Brooms  made  from  the  tops  of  a  species  of  corn,  called 
Broom-Corn. 

Corn-cob.     See  Cob. 

Byron  is  said  to  have  remarked,  that  "  the  greatest  trial  to  a  woman's  beauty  is 


iibo  COR— COE 

the  ungraceful  act  of  eating  eggs."    Some  Yankee  rejoices  that  the  poet  could  never 
have  seen  a  lady  hanging  on  by  the  teeth  to  a  blazing  hot  corn<ob.  —  Bait.  Sun. 

COBN-CEACKER.     The  nickname  for  a  native  of  Kentucky. 

CoBN-CRiB.  A  structure  raised  some  feet  from  the  ground,  and  with  sides 
made  of  slats  some  distance  apart,  or  of  lattice-work,  to  admit  the  air. 
In  it  the  dried  ears  of  maize  are  kept. 

CORN-DODGEK.  A  kind  of  cake  made  of  Indian  com,  and  Uaked  very 
hard.     It  is  sometimes  simply  called  dodger.     Much  used  in  the  South. 

The  universal  food  of  the  people  of  Texas,  both  rich  and  poor,  seems  to  be  corn- 
dodger and  fried  bacon.  —  Olmstead,  Texas. 

The  Sucker  State,  the  country  of  vast  projected  railroads,  good  corn-dodgers, 
splendid  banking-houses,  and  poor  currency.  — Bobb,  Squatter  Life,  p.  28. 

He  opened  a  pouch  wliich  he  wore  on  his  side,  and  took  from  thence  one  or  two 
corn-dodgers  and  half  a  broiled  rabbit,  which  his  wife  had  put  up  for  hunting  pro- 
visions.—  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  II.  p.  170. 

Corn-field.    A  field  where  maize,  or  Indian  com,  is  growing. 

Corn-husk,  or  Corn-shuck.  The  coarse  outer  leaves  wliich  enclose 
the  ear  of  Indian  com. 

Corn-husking,  or  Corn-shucking.  An  occasion  on  which  a  farmer 
invites  the  young  people  of  the  neighborhood  to  his  house  or  barn,  to  aid 
him  in  stripping  the  husks  from  his  com.     See  Husking. 

There  was  a  corn-husking,  and  I  went  along  with  Sal  Stebbins.  There  was  all  the 
gals  and  boys  settin'  round,  and  I  got  sot  down  so  near  Sal  Babit,  that  I  '11  be 
darned  if  I  did  n't  kiss  her  afore  I  know'd  what  I  was  about.  —  Traits  of  American 
Humor. 

Corn-juice.    Whiskey.    A  Western  term. 

I  informed  the  old  fellow  that  Tom  wanted  a  fight ;  and  as  he  was  too  full  of 
corn-juice  to  cut  carefully,  I  did  n't  want  to  take  advantage  of  him.  —  TtM,  Squatter 
Life. 

Old  Monongahela  whiskey. 

Whiskey  made  of  Indian  corn-juice.  — Pluribustah, 

Corn  Pone.  A  superior  kind  of  corn-bread,  made  with  milk  and  eggs  and 
baked  in  a  pan. 

Corn-shuck.     The  Southern  term  for  corn-husk,  which  see. 

You  can  have  a  mattress  of  bar-skin  to  sleep  on,  and  a  wild-cat  skin  pulled  off 
whole,  stuffed  with  corn-shucks,  for  a  pillow.  —  Thorpe,  Big  Bear  of  Arkansas. 

Corn-shucking.     The  Southern  term  for  corn-husking,  which  see. 

The  young  people  were  all  gibberin'  and  talkin'  and  laughin,'  as  if  they  'd  been 
to  a  com-shuckin' ,  more  'n  to  a  meetin'  house.  —  Major  Jones. 

Corn-snake.     The  Coluber  guttatus  of  the  Southern  States. 

Corn-stalk.     A  stalk  of  com,  particularly  the  stalk  of  the  maize.  ^ 

9* 


COR— COR  101 

Webster.  Mr.  Pickering  says,  "  The  farmers  of  New  England  use  this 
term,  and  more  frequently  the  simple  term  stalks,  to  denote  the  upper 
part  of  the  stalks  of  Indian  com  (above  the  ear),  which  is  cut  oflF  while 
green,  and  then  dried  to  make  fodder  for  their  cattle."  —  Vocabulary. 

Corn-stalk  Fiddle.  A  child's  plaything,  made  by  loosening  the  ex- 
ternal fibre  of  a  corn-stalk,  and  placing  a  bridge  imder  each  extremity. 

There  is  no  more  sentiment  in  the  soul  of  an  old  bachelor,  than  there  is  music  in 
a  corn-stalk  Jiddle.  —  Dow's  Sermons. 

Corned.     Drunk.     (Low.)  —  Grose. 

Corner.  When  a  party  is  made  up  to  buy  a  large  amount  of  stock,  a 
larger  quantity  than  is  known  to  be  at  the  time  in  the  market,  it  is  called 
a  comer.  The  plan  is  generally  kept  very  private.  As  soon  as  the 
clique  is  formed,  the  brokers  purchase  gradually  large  lots  of  stock  on 
time,  "  buyer's  option."  After  this  has  been  fixed,  they  sell  on  time, 
"  seller's  option,"  if  possible  nearly  to  the  extent  of  their  purchases  on 
buyer's  option.  The  object  of  this  is  to  provide  a  market  for  this  stock 
after  the  corner  has  run  out.  This  having  been  all  arranged,  the  clique 
commence  buying  for  cash,  and  in  so  doing  put  up  prices  rapidly.  Hav- 
ing inflated  the  market  pretty  well,  they  make  a  sudden  call  for  several 
thousand  shares  of  stock  on  their  buyer's  option,  and  then  there  comes  a 
sharp  time  among  the  sellers,  who  are  generally  all  short.  This  creates 
an  active  demand,  and  the  clique  sell  their  cash  stock  to  the  bears  or 
shorts,  who  purchase  at  high  rates  for  delivery  at  much  lower  prices  to 
the  very  parties  seUing.  —  Himfs  Merchant's  Mag.,  Vol.  37. 

To  Corner.  1.  To  comer  a  person  is  to  get  the  advantage  of  him  in  an 
argument,  as  though  he  were  physically  placed  in  a  comer  from  which 
he  could  not  escape.  This  use  of  the  word  can  hardly  be  an  American- 
ism ;  yet  it  is  not  found  in  the  English  dictionaries. 

2.  A  "Wall  street  word,  which  means  to  artificially  raise  the  price  of 
stock  in  the  manner  described  in  the  article  Comer. 

There  is  a  large  class  of  brokers  in  Wall  street,  who  sometimes  control  a  good 
deal  of  money,  and  who  make  speculation  their  business.  These  generally  unite  in 
squads  for  the  purpose  of  cornering,  —  which  means,  that  they  first  get  the  control 
of  some  particular  stock,  and  then,  by  making  a  great  many  contracts  on  time, 
compel  the  parties  to  pay  whatever  difference  they  choose,  or  rather  what  they  can 
get ;  for  they  sometimes  overrate  the  purse  of  those  they  contract  with.  —  A  Week 
in  Wall  Street,  ]).  81. 

The  remarkable  fluctuations  in  the  stock-market  are  chiefly  the  result  of  a  suc- 
cessful cornering  operation.  — N.  Y.  Journal  of  Com. 

The  Erie  Eaikoad  cornering  has  been  a  very  unfortunate  affair  for  many  members 
of  the  board.  — iV.  Y.  Herald. 

Corner-grocery.  A  grocer's  shop  on  the  comer  of  two  streets,  a  favor- 
ite location  for  such  establishments  in  American  towns. 


102  COR— COT 

Corner-trees.     See  Witness-trees. 

Corp.     A  corpse  is  so  called  in  Pennsylvania. 

Corral.  (Spanish.)  A  pen  or  place  of  security  for  horses  and  cattle  in 
the  form  of  a  circle,  often  temporarily  made  with  waggons,  etc.,  by  par- 
ties of  emigrants  crossing  the  prairies.  The  area  of  this  circle  is  suffi- 
ciently large  to  permit  the  horses  and  cattle  to  graze  during  the  night. 
On  the  outside  of  the  corral  the  tents  are  pitched,  with  their  doors  out- 
ward; and  in  front  of  these  the  camp-fires  are  Ughted. — Texas  and  New 
Mexico.  This  is  evidently  the  same  as  the  Diitch  Kraal,  which  in 
Southern  Africa  is  used,  like  the  Spanish,  both  as  a  noun  and  a 
verb. 

Among  the  trees,  in  open  spaces,  were  drawn  up  the  waggons,  formed  into  a  cor- 
ral, or  square,  and  close  together,  so  that  the  whole  made  a  most  formidable  fort,  and, 
when  filled  with  some  hundred  rifles,  could  defy  the  attacks  of  Indians  or  Mexicans. 
—  Ruxton's  Mexico  and  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  177. 

I  lost  a  portion  of  my  cattle,  wliich  broke  through  the  kraal  in  the  night,  and 
vwere  never  again  heard  of.  — Anderson's  Lake  Ngami,  p.  360. 

The  hyenas  were  in  the  habit  of  harassing  the  goat-kids,  which  for  security  were 
kraalled  against  the  wall  of  the  house.  — p.  356. 

To  CoBEAL.  To  corral  cattle  is  to  secure  them  in  an  enclosure,  to  pen 
them. 

During  the  stay  of  the  Indians,  the  animals  were  all  collected  and  corralled,  as 
their  penchant  for  horse-flesh  might  lead  some  of  the  young  men  to  appropriate  a 
f  horse  or  a  mule.  — Ruxton's  Adventures,  p.  238. 

Well,  as  soon  as  the  animals  were  unhitched  from  the  waggons,  the  governor 
sends  out  a  strong  guard,  seven  boys,  and  old  hands  at  that.  It  was  pretty  nigh 
upon  sundown,  and  Bill  had  just  sung  out  to  corral.  The  boys  were  drivin'  in  the 
:  animals,  and  we  were  all  standin'  round  to  get  'm  in  slick,  when  "  howgh-owgh- 
..owgh-ough"  we  hears  right  behind  the  blufi^,  and  'bout  a  minute  and  a  perfect 
■wocowd  of  Injuns  gallops  down  upon  the  animals.  —  Western  Adventures. 

CoTBETTY.  A  man  who  meddles  in  the  woman's  part  of  household  affairs. 
North  and  East.  It  is  probably  of  English  origin.  HaUiweU  and 
Wright  give  both  cot  and  cot-quean  with  the  same  meaning. 

CoTCH,  for. caught.     A  Negro  vulgarism. 

Snake  baked  a  hoe-cake, 

Left  a  frog  to  watch  it ; 

Frog  went  to  sleep, 

Lizard  come  and  cotch  it.  —  Virgtnta  Negro  Song. 

COTTON-BAGGiifG.  A  coarse  hempen  cloth,  chiefly  manufactured  in  Ken- 
tucky, for  packing  cotton  in.     Sometimes  called  simply  Bagging. 

COTTON-MOUXH.    A.  poisonous  snake  of  Arkansas. 


COT— COU  103 

Cottonocracy.  A  term  applied  to  the  Boston  manufacturers,  especially 
by  the  "  Boston  Whig  "  newspaper. 

Cotton  Rock.  A  variety  of  Magnesian  limestone,  of  a  light  buff  or 
gray  color,  found  in  Missouri.  It  is  very  soft  when  fresh  from  the 
quarry,  and  can  be  easily  wrought  for  building  purposes.  —  Swallow's 
Geology  of  Missouri. 

Cottonwood.  (Populus  monilifera.)  A  species  of  poplar,  so  called  from 
the  cotton-like  substance  surrounding  the  seeds,  which  grows  on  the  mar- 
gins of  lakes  and  streams  from  New  England  to  Illinois  and  southward, 
especially  westward.     In  Texas  and  New  Mexico  it  is  called  Alamo. 

Cougar.     See  Puma. 

Coulee.  (French.)  A  narrow  rocky  valley  of  great  depth,  with  inclined 
sides,  and  from  ten  to  fifty  miles  in  length,  distinguished  from  a  canon, 
which  has  precipitous  sides.     They  occur  in  Oregon. 

Council  Fire.  The  sacred  fire  kept  burning  while  the  Indians  hold  their 
coimcils. 

To  Count.    To  reckon ;  suppose ;  think. 

Newman.  —  You  '11  pass  muster !  a  proper  fine  fellow. 
Doolittk.  —  I  calculate  I  be. 
Newman.  —  Ready  to  enter  on  duty? 

Doolittk.  —  I  should  be  glad  to  know  what  kind  of  way  you  count  to  improve 
me. — D.  Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  England. 

Count  St.  Luc. — Bead  the  superscription.    Yon  can  read  ? 
Dodittle. — I  count  I  can,  —  and  spell,  too.  —  Ibid. 

To  Counter-brand.  To  destroy  a  brand  by  branding  on  the  opposite 
side.  In  the  prairie  regions  of  the  South-west  the  calves  are  marked  by 
cropping  their  ears,  the  cross  as  well  as  the  brand  of  each  stock-owner 
being  recorded  in  the  county  records.  "When  cattle  are  a  year  old,  they 
are  branded ;  and  if  afterwards  sold,  the  same  brand  is  burnt  in  on  the 
opposite  side,  thus  destroying  the  original  title. 

Counter-jumper.  A  clerk  in  a  retail  "  store,"  whose  place  is  behind  a 
counter. 

With  physical  forces  developed  in  the  school  of  slavish  endurance,  and  mind  un- 
tasked  and  neglected,  what  wonder  the  fanner's  boy  deems  the  life  of  a  city  counter- 
jumper  close  upon  the  confines  of  heaven !  —  Essay  by  L.  P.  Harvey,  1852. 

County.  "In  speaking  of  counties,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  "the  names 
of  which  are  composed  of  the  word  shire,  we  say  the  county  of  Hamp- 
shire, the  county  of  Berkshire,  etc.  In  England  they  would  say  either 
Hampshire  or  Berkshire  simply,  without  the  word  county  ;  or,  the  county 
of  Hants,  the  county  of  Berks,  etc.     The  word  shire  of  itself,  as  every- 


104  cou— cow 

body  knows,  means  county  ;  and  in  one  instance  (in  Massachusetts),  this 
latter  word  is  used  instead  of  shire,  as  a  part  of  the  name  :  '  The  county 
of  Duke's  County. '  "  —  Pickering's  Vocabulary. 

CoTJPLE.  A  couple  of  any  thing  sometimes  means  a  few ;  as,  "  Shall  I  go 
to  market  and  get  a  couple  of  cherries  ?  "     Pennsylvania. 

Coupon.  A  financial  term,  which,  together  with  the  practice,  is  borrowed 
.  from  France.  In  the  United  States,  the  certificates  of  State  stocks  draw- 
ing interest  are  accompanied  by  coupons,  which  are  small  tickets  attached 
to  the  certificates.  At  each  term  when  the  interest  falls  due,  one  of  these 
coupons  is  cut  ofi"  (whence  the  name) ;  and  this  being  presented  to  the 
State  treasurer,  or  to  a  bank  designated  by  him,  entitles  the  holder  to 
receive  the  interest.  The  coupons  attached  to  the  bonds  of  some  of  the 
Western  States  have  not  been  cut  off  for  several  years.  They  are  also 
called  Interest  Warrants. 

Court.  In  New  England  this  word  is  applied  to  a  legislative  body  com- 
posed of  a  House  of  Representatives  and  a  Senate;  as,  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts. 

CouET-HousE.  The  county  towns  of  Virginia  are  often  called  so  without 
regard  to  their  proper  names.  Thus  Providence,  the  county  town 
of  Fairfax,  is  unknown  by  that  name,  and  passes  as  Fairfax  Court-House  ; 
Culpepper  Court-House  has  superseded  its  proper  name  of  Fairfax,  more 
common  in  Lower  Virginia.  The  same  practice  has  existed  to  some  ex- 
tent in  Maryland.  Thus,  after  the  battle  of  Bladensburg,  and  the  dis- 
persion of  our  forces,  they  were  ordered  to  assemble  at  "  Montgomery 
Court-House." 

Cove.     A  strip  of  prairie  extending  into  the  woodland. 

CovERCLip.  (Genus  Achius.  Lacepede.)  The  popular  name  of  the  sole, 
a  fish  common  in  the  waters  of  New  York.  Calico  is  another  name  for 
it.  —  Mit.  Hist,  of  New  York. 

Coverlid.     A  corruption   of  coverlet.      (Fr.   couvre-lit.)     A  bed-quilt, 

counterpane. 

Her  bed  consisted  of  a  mattress  of  beech-leaves  spread  on  the  floor,  with  tow  and 
wool  coverlids.  —  Margaret,  p.  12. 

CoWBiRD,  or  CowPEN  BiRD.  {Icterus  pecoris.)  A  bird  allied  to  the 
Crow  Blackbird  and  Orchard  Oriole.  So  called  from  its  often  alighting 
on  the  backs  of  cattle  and  searching  for  worms  in  their  dung. 

Cowberry.  ( Vaccinium  vitisidcea.)  A  plant  resembling  the  common 
cranberry,  but  larger.  It  is  found  on  certain  mountains  in  Massachu- 
setts. —  Bigelow's  Flora  Bostoniemis. 


cow— CRA  105 

Cowboys.  A  contemptuous  appellation  applied  to  some  of  the  tory  par- 
tisans of  Westchester  Co.,  New  York,  during  the  Revolutionary  war, 
who  were  exceedingly  barbarous  in  the  treatment  of  their  opponents 
who  favored  the  American  cause,  v//  /  /         ^/      j^   a    /   ta^/^ 

Cow-catcher.  A  contrivance  fixed  m  froq/t  of  a  locomotive  to  cake  up 
cattle  or  other  obstacles,  and  prevent  them  from  getting  beneath  the 
wheels  and  throwing  the  cars  off  the  track. 

Cowhide,  or  Cowskin.  A  particular  kind  of  whip  made  of  twisted  strips 
of  raw  hide ;  it  is  also  called  a  Raw  Hide. 

To  Cowhide.     To  flog  with  a  cowhide,  or  cowskin. 

To  be  out  of  office  and  in  for  a  cowhiding  is  not  a  pleasant  change  from  eight 
dollars  a  day  and  all  sorts  of  nice  pickings.  [Alluding  to  an  ex-member  of  Con- 
gress.] — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Cow-lease.  A  right  of  pasturage  for  a  cow  in  a  common  pasture. 
Used  in  some  towns  of  New  England.  —  Pickering's  Vocabulary. 
Provincial  in  the  West  of  England.  —  Grose's  Glossary. 

Cow  Parsnip.     {Heracleum  lafanum.)     The  popular  name  of  a  plant, 
r-  'dassed  among  the   herbs   prepared  by  the  "  Shakers,"  as   containing 
properties  carminative  and  diuretic. 

Coyote.     (Mexican,  coyotl.)     The  prairie-wolf  (^Oanis  latrans). 

Coyote  Diggings.  Small  shafts  sunk  by  the  gold  miners  in  California, 
so  called  from  their  resemblance  to  the  holes  dug  or  occupied  by  the 
coyote.  This  animal  lives  in  cracks  and  crevices  made  in  the  plains  by 
the  intense  summer  heat. 

The  coi/ote  diggings  require  to  be  very  rich  to  pay,  from  the  great  amount  of  labor 
necessary  before  any  pay-dirt  can  be  obtained.  — Borthwick's  California,  p.  138. 

Crab  Grass.  (Gen.  Digitaria.)  A  species  of  grass  wMch  grows  spon- 
taneously in  the  cultivated  fields  of  Louisiana  and  Texas,  is  very  injurious 
to  the  crops,  and  yet  makes  excellent  fodder,  being  equal  to  the  best 
English  hay.  In  appearance  it  resembles  the  Orchard  grass  of  the 
North. 

Cracker.  1.  A  little  paper  cylinder  fiUed  with  powder,  imported  from 
China ;  called  also  a  Fire-cracker.  It  receives  its  name  from  the  noise 
it  produces  in  exploding.     In  England  it  is  called  a  squib. 

2.  A  small  water  biscuit.     So  called  also  in  the  North  of  England. 

3.  A  nickname,  applied  to  the  poor  white  people  of  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina,  otherwise  called  Sandhillers,  which  see. 

"  I  was  amused  enough,"  said  Nina,  "with  Old  Hundred's  indignation  at  having 


106  CRA— CRA 

got  out  the  carriage  and  horses  to  go  over  to  what  he  called  a  Cracker  funeral."  — 
Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  152. 

Cracklings.     1.  Cinders,  the  remains  of  a  wood  fire ;  a  word  used  in  the 

Southern  States. 
\ 
When  it  lightened  so,  she  said  t'  other  eend  of  the  world  was  afire,  and  we  'd  all 
be  burnt  to  cracklin's  before  morning.  — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship. 

2.  The  crisp  residue  of  hog  fat  after  the  lard  is  fried  out.  It  is 
kept  for  kitchen  use.  Grachling-hread  is  corn-bread  interspersed  with 
cracklings.     In  England,  crackling  is  the  crisp  rind  of  roast  pork. 

Well,  fetch  up  your  nag.  I  am  perhaps  a  leetle,  just  a  leetle,  of  the  best  man  at 
a  horse  swap  that  ever  stole  cracHins  out  of  his  mammy's  fat  gourd.  Where's  your 
boss  ?  —  Traits  of  American  Humor,  Vol.  I. 

Cradle-scythe.  Called  also  simply  a  cradle.  It  consists  of  a  common 
scythe  with  a  light  frame-work  attached,  corresponding  in  form  with  the 
scythe.  It  is  used  for  cutting  grain,  instead  of  the  sickle ;  and  enables 
the  farmer  to  perform  treble  the  work  that  could  be  accomplished  with 
the  latter  implement.  On  large  farms  it  is  now  superseded  by  the  still 
more  eflScient  Reaping  Machine. 

To  Cradle.  To  cradle  grain  is  to  cut  it  in  the  same  manner  that  grass 
is  cut  or  mowed  with  the  implement  above  described. 

The  operation  of  cradling  is  worth  a  journey  to  see.  The  sickle  may  be  more 
classical ;  b  ut  it  cannot  compare  in  beauty  with  the  swaying,  regular  motion  of  the 
cradle. — Mrs.  Clavers,  Western  Clearings. 

Cradle.  A  machine  resembling  a  child's  cradle  used  in  washing  out  the 
auriferous  earth  of  California.    Also  called  a  Rocker. 

Cramp-bark.  (  Viburnum  oxycoccus.)  The  popular  name  of  a  medicinal 
plant ;  its  properties  are  anti-spasmodic.  It  bears  a  fruit  intensely  acid. 
In  New  England  it  is  called  the  Tree  Cranberry. 

Crank.     Sure,  confident. 

If  you  strong  electioners  did  n't  think  you  were  among  the  elect,  you  would  n't 
be  so  crank  about  it.  —  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  317. 

Cranky.     1.  Unsteady,  as  the  gait  of  a  tipsy  man. 
2.  Queer,  crotchety. 

Crash.     (Germ.  Greas.)     A  coarse  kind  of  linen  cloth  used  for  towels. 

Margaret  was  up  early  in  the  morning.  She  washed  at  the  cistern,  and  wiped 
herself  on  a  coarse  crash  towel.  —  Margaret,  p.  1 7. 

Crawfish.  (Asfacus  bartonii.)  1.  The  popular  name  of  the  fresh- 
water lobster. 


CRA— CRE  107 

2.  A  political  renegade.     In  English  parliamentary  phrase,  "  a  rat." 

To  Crawfish.  To  back  out  from  a  position  once  taken ;  parficularly  ap- 
plied to  politicians,  evidently  from  the  mode  of  progression  of  the  animal. 
Western.     The  English  term  is  «  to  rat."  • 

We  acknowledge  the  com,  and  retreat,  retrograde,  crawJUJi,  or  climb  down,  in  as 
graceful  a  style  as  the  circumstances  of  the  case  will  admit.  —  Cairo  Times. 

Ceawfisht.  a  term  applied  to  wet  land,  because  inhabited  by  crawfish. 
See  Spouty. 

Creature.  In  the  plural  number  this  word  is  in  very  conmaon  use  among 
farmers  as  a  general  term  for  horses,  oxen,  etc.  Ex.  "  The  creatures  wiU 
be  put  into  the  pasture  to-day."  —  Pickering.  In  the  South,  a  horse  is 
generally  called  a  critter  ;  while,  to  other  animals,  the  term  stock  is  ap- 
plied. 

The  owners  or  claimers  of  any  such  creatures  [i.  e.  "  swine,  neat  cattle,  horses,  or 
sheep"],  impounded  as  aforesaid,  shall  pay  the  fees,  etc. — Provincial  Laws  of 
Mass.  —  Statute  10,  Wm.  IIL 

To  Crease.  To  shoot  an  animal  so  that  the  bullet  will  cut  the  skin  on 
the  upper  part  of  the  neck,  without  doing  any  serious  injury.  When  a 
horse  cannot  be  caught,  he  is  frequently  creased.  Although  he  is  not 
much  hiut,  he  will  fall  at  the  touch  of  the  buUet,  and  remain  quiet  and 
powerless  until  his  pursuers  secure  him.     Used  only  in  the  West. 

Finding  it  impossible  to  get  within  noosing  distance  [of  the  wild  horse],  and  seeing 
that  his  horse  was  receding  and  growing  alarmed,  Beatte  slid  down  from  the  saddle, 
levelled  his  rifle  across  the  back  of  his  mare,  and  took  aim,  with  the  intention  of 
creasing  him.  — Irving' s  Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

Creek.  A  small  river  or  brook.  In  New  York,  the  Middle  and  Western 
States,  and  in  Canada,  a  small  stream  is  called  a  creek.  The  term  is  in- 
correctly applied ;  as  its  original  signification,  according  to  the  diction- 
aries, is  a  small  port,  a  bay  or  cove ;  from  which  it  has  gradually  been 
extended  to  small  rivers. 

Creosote  plant.  {Larrea  mexicana^)  This  plant  abounds  from  the 
Arkansas  to  the  Rio  del  Norte,  and  in  the  sandy  deserts  of  California. 
It  is  characterized  by  a  resinous  matter  of  powerful  odor.  Animals  refuse 
to  eat  it.     It  is  employed  as  an  external  application  in  rheumatism. 

Creepers.  Pieces  of  iron,  furnished  with  sharp  points  and  strapped  under 
the  feet,  to  prevent  one  falling  when  walking  upon  ice.  The  term  is  said 
to  mean  "  low  pattens  "  in  Norfolk,  England. 

Creole.  In  the  West  Indies,  in  Spanish  America,  and  in  the  Southern 
States,  one  bom  of  European  parents ;  but  as  now  used  in  the  South 
it  is  applied  to  every  thing  that  is  native,  peculiar  to,  or  raised  there. 


108^  C  R  E  —  C  R  0 

In  the  New  Orleans  market  one  may  hear  of  Creole  com,  Creole  chickens, 
Creole  cattle,  and  Creole  horses.  In  that  city,  too,  a  Creole  is  a  native  of 
French  extraction,  as  pure  in  pedigree  aa  a  Howard ;  and  great  offence 
Ij^  been  given  by  strangers  applying  the  term  to  a  good-looking  mulatto 
or  quadroon. 

Crevasse.  (French.)  The  breaking  away  of  the  embankments  or  le- 
vees on  the  lower  Mississippi  by  a  pressure  of  the  water. 

Criss-cross.  A  game  played  on  slates  by  children  at  school;  also  called 
Fox  and  Geese. 

Critters,  for  creatures,  is  a  common  vulgarism  in  pronimciation. 

You  hear  folks  say,  such  a  man  is  an  ugly  grained  critter,  he  'II  break  his  wife's 
heart ;  just  as  if  a  woman's  heart  was  as  brittle  as  a  pipe-stalk.  —  Sam  Slick. 

Croaker.-  A  small  and  very  beautiful  fish,  found  in  great  abundance  in 
the  bays  and  inlets  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  derives  its  name  from  a 
peculiar  croaking  sound,  which  it  utters  when  taken. 

Crock.  (Ang.  Sax.  crocca.)  1.  An  earthem  vessel,  a  pot,  or  pitcher,  a 
cup.  —  Webster.  This  old  English  word  is  still  used  in  many  parts  of  the 
country. 

Therefore  the  vulgar  did  about  him  flocke, 
Like  foolish  flies  into  an  honey  crocke. 

Spenser,  F.  Queen,  V.  2.  33. 

2.  The  black  of  a  pot;  smut,  the  dust  of  soot  or  coal.  This  word  is 
provincial  in  various  parts  of  England,  and  is  there  used  precisely  as  in 
the  United  States. 

At  one  of  our  frolics,  there  was  one  long-haired  fellow  looked  as  though  he  'd 
been  among  the  pots  and  kettles,  and  got  a  great  gob  of  crock  on  his  upper  lip.  — 
Lafcofette  Chron. 

3.  (Fr.  croc.)  A  large  moustache  turned  up  (i.  e.  hooked)  at  the 
ends. 

To  Crock.     To  black  with  soot  or  other  matter  collected  jfrom  combus- 
tion, or  to  black  with  the  coloring  matter  of  cloth.  —  Webster. 
Provincial  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  England. 

Crooked  stick.     A  cross-grained,  perverse  person. 

So  as  I  ain't  a  crooked-stick,  just  like,  like  old  (I  swow, 

I  do  n't  know  as  I  know  his  name)  —  I  '11  go  back  to  my  plough. 

Bighw  Papers. 

The  widow  E must  have  been  dreadfully  put  to  it  for  a  husband,  to  take  up 

with  such  a  crooked  stick  as  Elder  B . — Major  Downing. 


CRO  — CRO  109 

To  Crook.     2.  To  crook  one's  elbow  or  one's  little  finger,  is  to  tipple. 

Crooked  as  a  Virginia  Fence.  A  phrase  applied  to  any  thing  very 
crooked;  and  figuratively  to  persons  of  a  stubborn  temper  who  are  diffi- 
cult to  manage. 

Cropping.  This  term,  in  the  South  and  "West,  means  devoting  the  chief 
attention  to  the  cultivation  of  one  article. 

Cross-Fox.  (  Vulpes  fulvus.)  A  fox  whose  color  is  between  the  common 
reddish-yellow  and  the  silver-gray,  having  on  its  back  a  black  cross. 
These  animals  are  rare,  and  their  skins  command  a  high  price. 

To  Cross  one's  Track.  To  oppose  one's  plans  ;  synonymous  with  the 
nautical  phrase,  "  to  run  athwart  one's  hawse." 

Cross  Timbers.  A  belt  of  forest  or  woodland,  from  five  to  thirty  miles  in 
width,  which  extends  from  the  Arkansas  River  in  a  southwesterly  direc- 
tion to  the  Brazos,  a  distance  of  four  hundred  miles.  The  wood  is 
chiefly  post-oak  and  black-jack.  The  forest  is  passable  for  waggons,  and 
is  a  marked  feature  in  the  region  where  it  is  found,  being  the  boundary 
between  the  cultivable  and  the  desert  portions. 

The  whole  of  the  cross  timber  abounds  in  mast.  There  is  a  pine  oak  which  pro- 
duces acorns  pleasant  to  the  taste. — Irving' s  Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

Crotchical.     Crotchety.     A  common  colloquial  word  in  New  England. 
You  never  see  such  a  crotchical  old  critter  as  he  is.    He  flies  right  off  the  handle 
for  nothin'.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England. 

Crowd.  Any  number  of  persons  together  is  called,  in  "Western  parlance,  a 
crowd  ;  so  that  the  word  is  often  equivalent  to  "  company." 

The  conveniences  of  the  toilette  were  wanting  as  in  all  far  Western  places.  A 
couple  of  tin  basins,  filled  with  muddy  water  from  the  Missouri,  stood  on  a  board, 
while  a  square  foot  of  mirror,  with  a  brush  and  comb  attached  by  means  of  a  string, 
hung  upon  the  wall  for  the  use  of  the  crowd.  — Description  of  a  Hotel  in  Kansas. 

Here,  boys,  drink.  Liquors,  captain,  for  the  crowd.  Step  up  this  way,  old  boss, 
and  liquor.  —  Gladstone,  Englishman  in  Kansas,  p.  43. 

In  a  discussion  pending  the  election  of  chaplain  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, "Washington,  ]Mr.  Elliott,  of  Kentucky,  nominated  the  Rev. 
John  Morris : 

"  He  is,"  said  Mr.  E.,  "  a  regular  member  of  the  Hardshell  Baptist  Church,  a 
very  pious  man,  not  of  very  eminent  ability,  but  just  the  man  to  pray  for  such  a 
crowd  as  this." 

The  New  York  Tribune,  in  speaking  of  "Walker's  party  of  fillibusters 
from  Costa  Rica,  says : 

Commodore  Erskine  has  signified  his  intention  not  to  carry  any  more  of  this 
crowd  to  Aspinwall,  out  of  deference  to  the  New  Granadian  authorities. — June  1, 
1857. 

10 


no  CRU— CUR 

I  recognized  a  man  as  one  of  my  fellow-passengers  from  New  York  to  Chagres. 
I  was  glad  to  see  liim,  as  he  was  one  of  the  most  favorable  specimens  of  that  crowd. 
—  Borthwick's  California,  p.  195. 

Cruel.  One  of  the  numerous  substitutes  for  very,  exceedingly.  A  man 
who  had  been  seriously  ill  with  cramp,  or  something  of  the  kind,  sent  for 
the  doctor,  who  arrived  after  the  painful  paroxysm  had  ceased,  and  when 
weakness  had  succeeded  to  pain. 

"  How  are  you,  my  friend  1  "  said  the  Doctor.  "  Oh,  Doctor,  I  'm  powerful  weak, 
but  cruel  easy." 

Cruller.  (Dutch  hruller,  a  curler.)  A  cake,  made  of  a  strip  of  sweet- 
ened dough,  boiled  in  lard,  the  two  ends  of  which  are  twisted  or  curled 
together.  Other  shapes  are  also  employed.  The  New  Yorkers  have 
inherited  the  name  and  the  thing  from  the  Dutch. 

To  Cry.     To  publish  the  banns  of  marriage  in  church.     New  England. 
I  should  not  be  surprised  if  they  were  cried  next  Sabbath.  —  Margaret. 

Cucumber  tree.  (^Magnolia  acuminata.')  A  tree,  so  called  from  a  slight 
resemblance  of  its  young  fruit  to  a  cucumber.  As  it  grows,  the  resem- 
blance is  lost,  and  the  fruit  becomes  pinkish  red. 

CuFFT.     A  very  common  term  for  a  negro. 

CuNNER,  or  Conner.     See  Burgall. 

Two  fishermen  had  been  despatched  at  daybreak  to  procme  a  supply  of  cod  for  a 
chowder  and  cunners  for  a  fry,  and  we  were  expecting  a  rare  supper.  — Lee,  Merri- 
mack, p.  133. 

CuNNUCK,  or  K'nuck.  a  name  applied  to  Canadians  by  the  people  in  the 
Northern  States. 

Missus  did  n't  affection  Yankees  much ;  and  Cunnucks  she  liated  like  poison, 
'cause  they  enticed  off  negroes.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  180. 

Curb-stone  Brokers.  Stock-operators,  whose  place  of  business  is  on 
the  edge  of  the  pavement  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange, 
and  whose  account-books  are  said  to  be  kept  in  their  hats.  "  This  is  a 
very  large  class  of  speculators,  and  is  composed  of  the  oldest  and 
most  experienced  operators  in  the  street  [Wall  street,  NeAV  York]. 
Many  of  them  have  been  members  of  the  Stock-Exchange ;  but  from 
having  failed  to  fulfil  their  contracts,  during  some  of  the  numerous  ups 
and  downs  of  the  market,  have  been  compelled  to  vacate  their  seats,  and 
lost  their  membership.  The  curb-stone  brokers  have  leased  a  large 
room  directly  under  that  occupied  by  the  regular  board  ;  and  during 
the  session  of  the  board  a  communication  is  kept  up  between  the  rooms, 
so  that  any  transaction  is  known  below  as  soon  as  made.  Upon  infor- 
mation derived  in  this  way,  the  curb-stone  brokers  operate  among  them- 
selves, and  frequently  with,  and  for  the  account  of,  the  outsiders.     Tliis 


CUR— CUT  111 

class  of  speculators  are  particularly  fond  of  operating  in  'puts'  and 
'  calls,'  and  in  fact  resort  to  all  the  different  methods  of  doing  a  large 
business  on  a  small  capital."  —  Hunt's  Merchants  Mag.  Vol.  37. 

CuRLETCUES.    See  Carlicues. 

Cuitious.  "  This  word  is  often  heard  in  New  England  among  the  com- 
mon farmers,  in  the  sense  of  excellent,  or  peculiarly  excellent ;  as  in  these 
expressions :  '  These  are  curious  apples ; '  '  this  is  curious  cider,'  etc. 
This  use  of  the  word  is  hardly  known  in  our  seaport  towns."  —  Pichering. 

CuPALO,  for  cupola,  is  a  common  error  of  pronunciation.  It  is  also  a  very 
old  one,  as  appears  from  the  following  passage  : 

Whose  roof  of  copper  shineth  so. 

It  excells  Saint  Peter's  cupello. —  Political  Ballads,  1660. 

Cuss.     A  vulgar  pronunciation  of  the  word  curse. 

Custard  Apple.     See  Sweet  Sap. 

Customable.  Subject  to  the  payment  of  duties  called  customs.  (Law  of 
Massachusetts.)  —  Wehster. 

The  word  dutiable  is  much  used  among  merchants  in  New  York,  but  I 
never  heard  the  word  customable. 

To  Cut  Didoes.     Synonymous  with  to  cut  capers,  i.  e.  to  be  frolicksome. 

Who  ever  heerd  them  Italian  singers  recitin'  their  jabber,  showin'  their  teeth,  and 
cuttin'  didoes  at  a  private  concert  ?  —  S.  Slick  in  England. 

Watchman !  take  that  'ere  feller  to  the  watch-house ;  he  comes  here  a  cutting  up 
his  didoes  every  night.  — Pickings  from  the  Picayune. 

On,  on  he  splurged,  until  not  two  ounces  of  vital  air  filled  his  breathing  apparatus ; 
over  the  fence  of  his  relative's  grounds  Nick  flew,  and  up  the  lane  he  travelled, 
bustled  into  the  house,  foamed,  fumed,  and  cut  up  such  wondrous  strange  didoes, 
that  his  wife  and  friends  believed  he  had  gone  stark  mad.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the 
Times. 

To  Cut  Dirt.  To  run;  to  go  fast.  Synonymous  with  "to  cut  one's 
stick."  A  vulgar  expression,  probably  derived  from  the  quick  motion  of 
a  horse  or  carriage  over  a  country  road,  which  makes  the  dirt  fly. 

Well,  the  way  the  cow  cut  dirt  was  cautionary ;  she  cleared  stumps,  ditches,  wind- 
falls, and  every  thing.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England. 

Now  cut  dirt !  screamed  I ;  and,  Jehu  Gincral  Jackson !  if  he  did  n't  make  a 
straight  shirt-tail  for  the  door,  may  I  never  make  another  pass.  — Field,  Western 

Tales. 

To  Cut  a  Swathe.     The  same  as  to  cut  a  dash. 

The  expression  is  generally  applied  to  a  person  walking  who  is  gaily 
dressed,  and  has  a  pompous  air  or  swagger  in  his  or  her  gait,  in  allusion 
to  the  sweeping  motion  of  a  scythe. 


112  CUT— CUT 

The  Miss  A s  cut  a  tall  swathe,  I  tell  you,  for  they  say  they  are  descended 

from  a  governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  that  their  relations  in  England  are  some  pun- 
kins  too.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature. 

Awake  !  arouse  ye,  Sinners !  Know  that  you  are  but  a  notch  or  two  lower  than 
the  angels ;  that  you  are  not  only  put  here  to  make  money,  kiss  the  women,  and 
cut  a  swathe,  but  to  fill  a  higher  and  more  important  destiny.  — Dow's  Sa-mons. 

To  Cut  a  Splurge.  The  same  as  the  foregoing,  to  make  a  show  or  dis- 
play in  dress. 

Since  Miss  C has  got  a  hyst  in  the  world,  she  tries  to  cut  a  splurge,  and  make 

folks  think  she 's  a  lady.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers. 

Cute.  (An  abbreviation  of  acute.)  Acute,  sharp,  keen.  It  is  provin- 
cial in  various  parts  of  England.  In  New  England  it  is  a  common  collo- 
quialism, though  never  used  by  educated  people. 

Now,  says  I,  I  'm  goin'  to  show  you  about  as  cide  a  thing  as  you  've  seen  in  many 
a  day.  —  Maj.  Downing's  Letters,  p.  214. 

Mr.  Marcy  was  a  right  cute,  cunning  sort  of  a  man  ;  but  in  that  correspondence 
General  Taylor  showed  himself  able  to  defend  himself  against  tlie  fire  in  the 
rear.  —  Mr.  Gentry's  Remarks  at  the  Taylor  Meeting  in  N.  Y. 

Miss  AUin,  in  her  "  Home  Ballads,"  in  describing  the  Yankee,  says : 

No  matter  where  his  home  may  be  — 

What  flag  may  be  unfurl'd  ! 
He  '11  manage,  by  some  cute  device, 

To  whittle  tlurough  the  world. 

CuTENESS.     Acuteness,  keenness. 

He  had  a  pair  of  bright,  twinkling  eyes,  that  gave  an  air  of  extreme  cuteness  to  his 
physiognomy.  —  Knickerbocker  Mag.,  Aug.  1845. 

CuT-GKASS.  {Leersia  oryzoides.)  The  common  name  of  a  species  of 
grass,  with  leaves  exceedingly  rough  backward,  so  as  to  cut  the  hands  if 
drawn  across  them.  —  Bigelow's  Flora. 

To  Cut  it  too  Fat.  To  overdo  a  thing,  synonymous  with  "going  it  too 
strong." 

It 's  bad  enough  to  be  uncomfortable  in  your  own  house  without  knowing  why ; 
but  to  have  a  philosopher  of  the  Sennaar  school  sliow  you  why  you  are  so,  is  cutting 
it  rather  too  fat.  — Potiphar  Papers,  p.  131. 

Cut-off.  Passages  cut  by  the  great  Western  rivers,  particularly  the 
Mississippi,  affording  new  channels,  and  thus  forming  islands.  These 
cut-offs  are  constantly  made. 

When  the  Mississippi,  in  making  its  cut-offs,  is  plougliing  its  way  through  the  vir- 
gin soil,  there  float  upon  the  top  of  tliis  destroying  tide,  thousands  of  trees,  that 
covered  the  land  and  lined  its  curving  banks. —  Thorpe's  Backwoods,  p.  172. 

The  settlement  was  one  of  the  prettiest  places  on  the  Mississippi — a  perfect  loca- 
tion; it  had  some  ddfects,  until  the  river  made  the  cut-off  &i  Sliirt  Tail  Bend,  which 
remedied  the  evil.  —  Thorpe,  Big  Bear  of  Arkansas, 


CUT— CYP  113 

To  Cut  rohntd.     To  fly  about,  to  make  a  display. 

The  widow  made  herself  perfectly  ridiculous.  She  was  dressed  off  like  a  young 
gal,  and  cut  round,  and  laughed,  and  tried  to  be  wonderful  interesting.  —  Bedott 
Papers,  p.  91. 

Instead  of  sticking  to  me  as  she  used  to  do,  she  got  to  cuttin'  round  with  all  the 
young  fellows,  just  as  if  she  cared  nothin'  about  me  no  more.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the 
Times. 

To  Cut  Stick,  or  To  Cut  one's  Stick.  To  be  off;  to  leave  imme- 
diately, and  go  with  all  speed.  A  vulgar  expression,  and  often  heard. 
It  is  also  provincial  in  England. 

Dinner  is  over.     It 's  time  for  the  ladies  to  cut  stick.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England. 
If  ever  you  see  her  and  she  begins  that  way,  up  hat  and  cut  stick  double  quick. — 
Ibid. 

To  Cut  under.     To  undersell  in  price.     New  York. 

To  Cut  up  shines.     To  cut  capers,  play  tricks. 

A  wild  bull  of  the  prairies  was  cutting  up  shines  at  no  great  distance,  tearing  up 
the  sod  with  hoofs  and  horns.  — Knickerbocker  Mag. 

"  What  have  these  men  been  doing?  "  asked  the  Eecorder. 

"  Oh,  they  were  cutting  up  all  kinds  of  shines ;  knocking  over  the  ashes  barrels,  shy- 
ing stones  at  lamps,  kicking  at  doors,  and  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  whole  city." — 
Pickings  from  the  Picayune,  p.  61. 

Cutter.     A  light  one-horse  sleigh. 

Sleighs  are  swarming  up  and  down  the  street,  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  from  the  huge 
omnibus  with  its  thirty  passengers  to  the  light,  gail)'  painted  cutters,  with  thpir  soli- 
tary fur-capped  tenants,  etc.  —  The  Upper  Ten  Thousand,  p.  4. 

And  then,  we  '11  go  sleighing,  in  warm  raiment  clad,* 

With  fine  horses  neighing  as  if  they  were  glad. 

The  shining  bells  jingle,  the  swift  cutter  flies  : 

And  if  our  ears  tingle,  no  matter ;  who  cries  ?  —  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

CuTTOES.     (French  couteau,  a  knife.)     A  large  knife,  used  in  olden  times 

in  New  England. 

There  were  no  knives  and  forks,  and  the  family  helped  themselves  on  wooden 
plates,  with  cuttoes.  — Margaret,  p.  10. 

Cypress-brake.  A  basin-shaped  depression  of  land  near  the  margia 
of  shallow,  sluggish  bayous,  into  which  the  superabundant  waters  find 
their  way.  In  these  places  are  vast  accumulations  of  faUen  cypress- 
trees,  which  have  been  accumulating  for  ages.  These  are  called  cypress- 
hrakes. — Dickeson  on  the  Cypress  Timber  of  Louisiana. 

10* 


114  DAD  — DAR 


D. 

Daddock.     The  heart  or  body  of  a  tree  thoroughly  rotten.  —  Ash. 

This  old  word  is  not  noticed  by  Johnson,  Todd,  or  Webster.  It  is  in- 
troduced by  Mr.  "Worcester  in  his  new  dictionary. 

The  great  red  daddocks  lay  in  the  green  pastures,  where  they  had  lain  year  after 
year,  crumbling  away,  and  sending  forth  innumerable  forms  of  vegetable  life.  — 
Margaret,  p.  215. 

Damaged.    Intoxicated. 

Damson  Plums,  of  the  West  Indies.     See  Star-apple. 

Dander.     1.  Scurf  at  the  roots  of  the  hair ;  dandruff. 

2.  To  get  one's  dander  up,  or  to  have  one's  dander  raised,  is  to  get  into 
a  passion.  Here,  it  would  seem,  the  dandruff  is  ludicrously  put  for  the 
hair  itself,  which  is  represented  as  being  raised  on  end,  like  the  fur 
of  some  animals  when  enraged.  This  as  well  as  the  preceding  use  of  the 
word  is  found  in  English  dialects. 

The  Department  of  State  did  not  keep  back  the  letters  of  Mr.  Rives,  in  which 
he  boasts  that  he  had  outwitted  the  French.  Well,  this  sort  oiput  up  the  dander  of 
the  French. — Crockett,  Tour,  p.  198. 

The  fire  and  fury  that  blazed  in  her  eye  gave  ocular  evidence  of  her  dander  being 
tip. — Pickings  from  the  New  Orleans  Picayune,  p.  163. 

As  we  looked  at  the  immense  strength  of  the  Northumberland's  mast,  we  could 
not  help  thinking  that  Neptune  must  have  his  dander  considerably  raised  before  he 
could  carry  it  away.  —  N.  Y.  Com.  Adv.  ' 

I  felt  my  dander  risin'  when  the  impertinent  cuss  went  and  tuck  a  seat  along-side 
of  Miss  Mary,  and  she  begun  to  smile  and  talk  with  liim  as  pleasin'  as  could  be.  — 
Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  77. 

Dangerous.     Endangered,  being  in  danger.  —  Forhy.    This  sense  is  local 
in  England,  and  colloquial  in  the  United  States.  —  Worcester. 

Dandyfied.     Dandyish ;  like  a  dandy. 

Darky.     A  common  term  for  a  negro. 

I  wish  de  legislatur  would  set  dis  darkie  free. 

Oh  !  what  a  happy  place  den  de  darkie  land  would  be. 

We  'd  have  a  darkie  parliament. 

An'  darkie  codes  of  law, 
An'  darkie  judges  on  de  bench, 

Darkie  barristers  and  aw.  —  Ethiopian  Melodies. 

Dare  moon.    The  interval  between  the  old  and  the  new  moon.     Western. 

I  always  alter  my  colts  and  plant  my  'taters  during  the  dark  moon.  —  Letter  from 
a  Western  Farmer. 


DAE  — DEA  115 

Darn.  A  substitution  for  damn,  generally  considered  a  Yiuikeeism.  It  is 
used,  however,  in  England.  In  the  South  the  form  ding  is  used,  which 
comes  near  to  the  Enghsh  dang. 

If  e'er  their  jars  they  've  made  yu  feel, 

This  gude  adwise  you  '11  call ; 
For  sich  warmin's  gripe  —  or  I  '11  be  darned 
'T  wood  soon  make  ye  sing  small.  — Essex  Dialect,  NbaJces  and  Styles. 
Now  let  me  see,  that  is  n't  all ;  I  used  'fore  leaving  Jaalam, 
To  count  things  on  my  finger-ends,  but  something  seems  to  ail  'em. 
Wliere  's  my  left  hand  1     0,  dam  it,  yes,  I  recollect  what 's  come  on 't : 
I  haint  no  left  arm  but  my  right,  and  that's  got  jest  a  thumb  on 't. 

Poetical  Epistle  from  a  Volunteer. 
Darnation.     a  euphemism  for  damnation. 

"Buttermilk,  by  Jingo,"  exclaimed  the  disappointed  pedagogue.  Saint  Jingo 
was  the  only  saint,  and  a  darnation,  or  darn  you,  were  the  only  oaths  his  puritan 
education  ever  allowed  him  to  use.  —  Cooper,  Satanstoe,  Vol.  I.  p.  68. 

Darsext,  for  dares  not.     It  is  vulgarly  used  in  all  persons  and  numbers. 

To  Deacon  a  Calf  is  to  knock  it  in  the  head  as  soon  as  it  is  bom.  — 
Connecticut. 

To  Deacon  off.  To  give  the  cue  to ;  derived  from  a  custom,  once  uni- 
versal but  now  extinct,  in  the  New  England  Congregational  churches. 
An  important  part  of  the  office  of  deacon  was  to  read  aloud  the  hymns 
given  out  by  the  minister,  one  line  at  a  time,  the  congregation  singing 
each  line  as  soon  as  read. — Lowell.  In  some  of  the  interior  parts  of 
New  England  the  custom  of  deaconing  off  hymns  is  still  continued.  It 
probably  arose  in  the  early  colonial  days  from  a  scarcity  of  psalm 
books. 

Wlien  all  was  ready  [to  commence  the  religious  exercises],  a  prayer  was  made 
and  the  chorister  deaconed  the  first  two  lines.  —  Goodrich's  Reminiscences,  Vol.  I. 
p.  77. 

To  funk  right  out  o'  p'lit'cal  strife  aint  thought  to  be  the  thing, 
Without  you  deacon  off  the  tune  you  want  your  folks  should  sing. 

The  Bigelow  Papers. 

To  Deaden.  1.  In  newly  settled  parts  of  the  West,  where  it  is  designed 
to  make  a  "  clearing,"  some  of  the  trees  are  cut  down ;  the  others  are  gir- 
dled, or  deadened,  as  they  say,  i.  e.  deprived  of  force  or  sensation.  K 
the  majority  of  trees  are  thus  girdled,  the  field  is  called  a  deadening,  — 
otherwise  it  is  a  cleai'ing.  —  Carlton,  TJie  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  240. 

2.  A  political  candidate  at  the  West  deadens  his  competitor's  votes  in  a 
district  by  doing  away  with  false  impressions,  misstatements,  etc.,  orig- 
inating with  the  other  party. 

Deadening.  A  piece  of  land  the  trees  on  which  have  been  deadened  by 
girdling. 


116  DEA  — DEA 

Dead  broke.     Utterly  exhausted  of  cash,  penniless. 

Damphool  squared  up  liis  board  bill  and  paid  his  washer-woman,  which  left  him 
dead  broke.  — Doesticks,  p.  141. 

To  be  dead  broke  was  really,  as  far  as  a  man's  comfort  was  concerned,  a  matter  of 
less  importance  in  the  mines  than  in  almost  any  other  place.  —  Borthwick's  California, 
p.  255. 

Dead  heads.  Persons  who  drink  at  a  bar,  ride  in  an  omnibus  or  railroad 
car,  travel  in  steamboats,  or  visit  the  theatre,  without  charge,  are  called 
dead  heads.  These  consist  of  the  engineers,  conductors,  and  laborers  on 
railroads ;  the  keepers  of  hotels ;  the  editors  of  newspapers,  etc. 

"  The  principal  avenue  of  our  city,"  writes  a  learned  friend  in  Detroit,  "  has  a 
toll-gate  just  by  the  Elmwood  Cemetery  road.  As  the  cemetery  had  been  laid  out 
some  time  previous  to  the  construction  of  the  plank-road,  it  was  made  one  of  the 
conditions  of  the  company's  charter  that  all  funeral  processions  should  go  back  and 
forth  free.  One  day,  as  Dr.  Price,  a  celebrated  physician,  stopped  to  pay  his  toll, 
he  remarked  to  the  gate-keeper  : 

"  '  Considering  the  benevolent  character  of  our  profession,  I  think  you  ought  to 
let  us  pass  free  of  charge.* 

"  '  No,  no,  doctor,'  the  keeper  readily  replied,  '  we  could  n't  afford  that.  You 
send  too  many  dead  heads  through  here  as  it  is.' 

"  The  doctor  paid  liis  toll,  and  never  asked  any  favors  after  that."  — Wash.  Even. 
Star,  Oct.  1857. 

Deadheadism.     The  practice  of  travelling  with  free  tickets. 

As  I  had  never  experienced  the  blessed  privilege  of  deadheadism,  I  could  not  natu- 
rally resist  the  opportunity  of  enjoying  so  new  a  sensation ;  and  I  beg  to  assure  you 
that  it  is  by  no  means  so  unpleasant  as  you  might  imagine.  It  was  a  pleasure  simi- 
lar to  that  which  Lucretius  describes  as  enjoyed  by  standers  on  the  shore  when  they 
see  ships  tossed  about  on  the  sea,  to  behold  wretches  crowding  to  the  ticket-offices 
and  disbursing  their  money,  when  you  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  take  your  seat  and 
be  carried  through  the  air  without  money  and  without  price.  — Letter  in  JV.  Y.  Tribune, 
June,  1857. 

Dead  Horse.  Work  for  which  one  has  been  paid  before  it  is  performed. 
When  a  printer,  on  Saturday  night,  includes  in  his  bill  work  not  yet  fin- 
ished, he  is  said,  on  the  following  week,  to  "  work  off  a  dead  horse." 
Also  used  in  England. 

Dead  Rabbits.  A  name  recently  assumed  by  the  Irish  faction  in  the  city 
of  New  York. 

If  the  Dead  Rabbit  think  he  slays. 

Or  the  Plug  Ugly  think  he 's  slain. 
They  do  but  pave  the  subtle  ways 
I  've  trod,  and  mean  to  tread  again. 

Parody  on  Emerson's  Brahma,  N.  Y.  Even'g  Post, 

Deaf  Adder.     See  Blauser. 

Deaf  Nut.  A  nut  the  kernel  of  which  is  decayed.  Pennsylvania- 
Provincial  in  England. 


DEA— DEM  117 

Dearborn.  A  kind  of  light  covered  waggon,  so  named  from  its  inven- 
tor. 

Death.  To  be  death  on  a  thing,  is  to  be  completely  master  of  it,  a  capital 
hand  at  it,  like  the  quack  doctor  who  could  not  manage  the  whooping- 
cough,  but  was,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  death  on  fits."     Vulgar. 

Did  you  ever  beam  tell  of  the  man  they  calls  Chunkey  1  bom  in  Kaintuck  and 
raised  on  the  Mississippi;  death  on  bar,  and  smartly  in  a  panther  fight? — N.  Y. 
Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Women,  I  believe,  are  bom  with  certain  natural  tastes.  Sally  was  death  on  lace, 
and  old  Aunt  Thankful  goes  the  whole  figure  for  furs.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature, 
p.  225. 

Decedent.     A  deceased  person.  —  Laws  of  Pennsylvania. 

Deck.    A  pack  of  cards. 

"  Waiter,"  cried  out  an  Arkansas  traTcUer,  "bring  down  my  baggage."  "  What 
is  it,  sir  ?  "     "A  bowie-knife,  a  pair  of  pistols,  a  deck  of  cards,  and  one  shirt." 

Dech  is  defined  by  Ash,  "  a  pack  of  cards  piled  one  upon  another." 

Declension.  We  sometimes  see  this  word  used  in  the  newspapers,  in 
speaking  of  a  person's  declining  to  be  a  candidate  for  office.  Ex.  In. 
consequence  of  the  declension  of  our  candidate,  we  shall  be  obhged  to  vote 
for  a  new  one.  —  Pickering. 

Declination.  Used  in  the  same  sense  as  the  preceding  word.  It  is  said 
to  have  been  first  employed  by  Mr.  John  Pintard,  when  he  declined  a 
reelection  as  president  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 

To  Deed.  To  convey  or  transfer  by  deed.  A  popular  use  of  the  word  in 
America ;  as,  "  he  deeded  all  his  estate  to  his  eldest  son."  —  Webster. 

Deed  op  Trust.  An  instrument  of  writing  under  seal,  conveying  prop- 
erty from  A  to  B,  to  hold  or  use  for  the  benefit  of  C,  under  the  agree- 
ment of  A  and  C.     Middle  States. 

Delaware.  This  State  was  so  called  in  the  year  1703,  from  Lord  De  la 
War,  whose  name  was  previously  given  to  the  Bay. 

To  Demoralize.  To  corrupt  and  undermine  the  morals  of;  to  destroy  or 
lessen  the  efiect  of  moral  principles  on.  —  Webster.  Professor  Lyell, 
who  visited  Dr.  Webster,  says,  "  When  the  Doctor  was  asked  how  many 
words  he  had  coined  for  his  Dictionary,  he  replied,  only  one,  *  to  demor- 
alize ; '  and  that  not  for  his  Dictionary,  but  in  a  pamphlet  published  in  the 
last  century."  —  Travels  in  the  U.  States,  p.  53.  JVIr.  Jodrell,  in  his 
"  Philology  of  the  English  Language,"  gives  the  word  a  place,  and  cites 
as  an  example,  a  passage  from  a  speech  by  Lord  Liverpool,  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  March  11,  1817: 


118  DEN  — DES 

They  had  endeavored  to  guard  and  protect  the  people  against  the  attempts  which 
■were  made  to  corrupt  and  demoralize  them. 

The  native  vigor  of  the  soul  must  wholly  disappear,  under  the  steady  influence 
and  the  demoralizing  example  of  profligate  power  and  prosperous  crime.  —  Walsh, 
Letters  on  France. 

Dengue.     See  Break-hone  Fever. 

Department.  (Fr.  departement.)  The  principal  offices  of  the  federal 
government  at  Washington,  at  the  head  of  each  of  which  is  a  Secretary, 
are  styled  departments.  Thus  we  have  the  State  Department,  Interior 
Department,  Treasury  Department,  etc.  This  expression  and  also  the 
following  are  borrowed  from  the  French. 

Departmental.     Pertaining  to  a  department,  or  division.  —  Webster. 

The  game  played  by  the  revolutionists  in  1 789  was  now  played  against  the  depart- 
mental guards,  called  together  for  the  protection  of  revolutionists.  —  Burke,  Pref.  to 
Brissot's  Address. 

Wliich  it  required  all  the  exertion  of  the  departmental  force  to  suppress.  —  H.  M. 
Williams,  Letters  on  France. 

Depot.     (Pron.  dee'-po.)    A  railroad  station-house. 

To  Deputize.  To  depute ;  to  appoint  a  deputy ;  to  empower  to  act  for 
another,  as  a  sheriff.  —  Webster. 

This  word  is  not  in  any  of  the  English  dictionaries  except  one  of  the 
early  editions  of  Bailey,  where  it  appears  in  the  Preface  among  words  in 
modem  .authors,  collected  after  the  Dictionary  was  printed.  Mr.  Picker- 
ing remarks,  that  "  the  word  is  sometimes  heard  in  conversation,  but 
rarely  occurs  in  writing,  and  has  always  been  considered  as  a  mere  vul- 
garism." 

They  seldom  tliink  it  necessary  to  deputize  more  than  one  person  to  attend  to 
their  interests  at  the  seat  of  government.  —  Port  Folio,  January,  1811. 

Deseret.  a  name  given  by  the  Mormons  to  the  Territory  of  Utah, 
which  they  occupy. 

Desk.  The  pulpit  in  a  church,  and  figuratively,  the  clerical  profession. 
"  The  Rev.  Mr.  PoundteXt  appears  well  at  the  desk."  "  He  intends  one 
son  for  the  bar,  and  another  for  the  desk."  This  New  England  word  is 
not  generally  used  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

The  pulpit,  or  as  it  is  here  [in  Connecticut]  called,  the  desk,  was  filled  by  tlu"ee,  if 
not  four,  clergymen ;  a  number  which,  by  its  form  and  dimensions,  it  was  able  to 
accommodate. — Kendall's  Travels,  Vol.  I.  p.  4. 

They  are  common  to  every  species  of  oratory,  though  of  rarer  use  in  t!ie  desk, 
etc.  —  Adams's  Lecture  on  Rhetoric. 

Desperate,  commonly  pronounced  despert,  and  used  to  denote  exceed- 
ingly ;  as  "  I  'm  despert  glad  to  see  you."     Bad  as  this  use  and  pronuncia- 


DES— DIF  119 

tion  of  the  word  are,  they  are  both  to  be  found  in  England.  ]Mr.  Ham- 
ilton notices  the  word  among  the  provincialisms  of  Yorkshire ;  as, 
"  Thou 's  desperate  hopeful !  "  —  Nugae  Liter arice,  p.  353. 

"  "Waes  me !  what 's  this  that  lugs  sae  at  my  heart, 
And  fills  my  breast  with  such  a  despert  smart  ?  " 

Poems  in  Westmoreland  and  Cumberland  Dialect,  p.  117. 

Dessert.  This  term,  which  properly  signifies  the  fruits  and  nuts  brought 
on  the  table  after  the  substantial  parts  of  a  dinner,  is  often  improperly 
applied  in  the  United  States  to  the  puddings  and  pies. 

To  Desulphurize.     To  take  the  sulphur  out  of  vulcanized  Caoutchouc. 

Devil's  Darning-Needle.  A  common  name  for  the  Dragon-fly.  In 
England,  according  to  Wright,  it  is  called  the  Devil's  Needle. 

Now  and  then  a  long-legged  spider  would  run  across  our  track  with  incredible 
rapidity,  or  a  devil's  darning-needle  would  pertinaciously  hover  above  our  heads,  and 
cause  me,  impressed  with  an  old  nursery  caution,  to  duck  and  dodge,  and  hold 
my  hands  over  my  ears,  until  the  winged  spectre  would  fly  away  across  the  garden.  — 
Putnam's  Monthly,  June,  1854. 

Devil-Fish.  (Genus,  Sophius.  Cuvier.)  The  common  name  of  the 
American  Angler,  so  called  from  its  hideous  form.  It  is  also  known  by 
the  names  of  Sea-devil,  Fishing-frog,  Bellows-fish,  Goose-fish,  Monk-fish, 
and  others.  —  Storer's  Fishes  of  3fass. 

Deviltry.     Mischief;  devilry.     Provincial  in  England. 

The  oflSce-holding  gentry  at  Washington  will  meet  with  their  match  in  an  indig- 
nant people,  when  they  come  to  find  out  their  deviltry.  —  Crockett's  Speech,  Tour, 
p.  106. 

Peter  Funk  is  ready  to  be  employed  in  all  manner  of  deceit  and  deviltry.  He 
cares  not  who  his  employers  are.  —  Perils  of  Pearl  Street,  p.  51. 

Dewberry.     (Rubus  Canadensis.)     A  low-traUing  species  of  Blackberry. 

Dicker.     Barter ;  also  articles  received  in  barter.     Western. 

Grant  that  the  North 's  insulted,  scorned,  betrayed, 

O'erreached  in  bargains  with  her  neighbor  made. 

When  selfish  thrift  and  party  held  the  scales 

For  peddling  dicker,  not  for  honest  sales. 

Whom  shall  we  strike  ?  —  Whittier,     The  Panorama. 

To  Dicker.     To  barter.     Used  in  New  York  and  New  England. 

The  white  men  who  penetrated  to  the  semi-wilds  [of  the  West]  were  always 
ready  to  dicker  and  to  swap,  and  to  trade  rifles  and  watches,  and  whatever  else  they 
might  happen  to  possess.  —  Cooper.     The  Oak  Openings. 

Different  from.  We  say  one  thing  is  "different  from"  another.  In 
England  the  expression  is  "  different  to,"  and  so  the  old  EngUsh  writers 
quoted  in  Richardson's  Dictionary.     Comp.  Averse. 


120  DIF  — DIG 

DiFFicuLTED.  Perplexed.  Mr.  Sherwood  has  this  among  the  words  pe- 
cuhar  to  Georgia,  and  there  are  examples  of  its  use  to  be  found  in  some 
of  our  M'ell-known  authors.  It  is  in  common  use  at  the  bar :  "  The  gen- 
tleman, I  think,  will  be  difficulted  to  find  a  parallel  case." 

There  is  no  break  in  the  chain  of  vital  operation ;  and  consequently  we  are  not 
difficulted  at  all  on  the  score  of  the  relation  which  the  new  plant  bears  to  the  old  — 
Bush  on  the  Resurrection,  p.  57. 

Dr.  Jamieson  has  the  verb  to  difficult  in  his  Scottish  Dictionary. 

Dig.  a  diligent  student,  one  who  learns  his  lessons  by  hard  and  long  con- 
tinued exertion.  —  HalVs  College  Words. 

There  goes  the  dig,  just  look ! 
How  like  a  parson  he  eyes  his  book ! 

N.  Y.  Literary  World,  Oct.  11,  1851. 

By  this  't  is  that  we  get  ahead  of  the  dig, 

'T  is  not  we  that  prevail,  but  the  wine  that  we  swig. 

Amherst  Indicator,  Vol.  II.  p.  252. 

Digging.  1.  A  word  first  used  at  the  Western  lead  mines,  to  denote  a 
place  where  the  ore  was  dug.  Instead  of  saying  this  or  that  mine,  the 
phrase  in  vogue  is  these  diggings,  or  those  diggings. 

Mr.  Charles  F.  Hoffman  visited  the  Galena  lead-mines,  and  while  there 
was  shown  about  to  the  various  estates,  where  the  people  were  digging 
for  ore.     The  person  who  accompanied  him  said : 

Mr. ,  from  your  State,  has  lately  struck  a  lead,  and  a  few  years  will  make 

liim  independent.  We  are  now,  you  observe,  among  his  diggings.  —  Winter  in  the 
West,  Let.  25. 

The  principal  diggings  near  Haugtown  were  surface  diggings,  but,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  river  diggings,  every  kind  of  mining  was  seen  in  full  force.  —  Borthwick's 
California,  p.  120. 

The  phrase  these  diggings  is  now  provincial  in  the  Western  States, 
and  is  occasionally  heard  in  the  Eastern,  to  denote  a  neighborhood,  or 
particular  section  of  country. 

Boys,  fellars,  and  candidates,  I  am  the  first  white  man  ever  seed  in  these  diggings. 
I  killed  the  first  bar  [bearj  ever  a  white  skinned  in  the  county,  and  am  the  first 
manufacturer  of  whiskey,  and  a  powerful  mixture  it  is  too.  —  liohb.  Squatter  Life 

I  ain't  a  vain  man,  and  never  was.  I  hante  a  morsel  of  it  in  my  composition.  I 
do  n't  think  any  of  us  Yankees  is  vain  people  ;  it 's  a  thing  don't  grow  in  our  dig- 
gings. —  Sam  Slick  in  Englaud,  ch.  24. 

2.  The  act  of  studying  hard ;  diligent  application.  —  Hall. 

I  've  had  an  easy  time  in  college,  and  enjoyed  the  "  otium  cum  dignitate,"  —  the 
learned  leisure  of  a  scholar's  life,  —  always  despised  digging,  you  know.  — Harvard 
Reg.  p.  194. 

3.  Dear,  or  costly  ;  as,  "  a  mighty  digging  price."  A  Southern  word. 
—  Sherwood's  Georgia. 


DIL  — DIP  121 

To  Dill.  (Probably  the  same  as  to  dull.)  To  soothe.  The  word  is  used 
in  the  north  of  England. 

I  know  -what  is  in  this  medicine.  It  '11  dill  fevers,  dry  up  sores,  stop  rheumatis, 
drive  out  rattlesnake's  bite,  kill  worms,  etc.  —  Margaret,  p.  140. 

Dime.  (Fr.  dixme  or  dime,  tenth.)  A  silver  coin  of  the  United  States, 
in  value  the  tenth  of  a  dollar,  or  ten  cents. 

This  term,  peculiar  to  our  decimal  currency,  is  now  in  common  use  at 
the  South  and  West ;  but  in  the  Eastern  and  Northern  States,  whence 
the  Spanish  real  and  half-real,  which  long  formed  a  large  portion  of  the 
circulation,  have  only  recently  been  banished,  it  is  usually  called  a  ten,' 
cent  piece,  and  the  half-dime  o,  five-cent  piece. 

Small  articles  are  sold  in  the  New  Orleans  markets  by  the  picayune  or  dime's 
worth.  If  j'ou  ask  for  a  pound  of  figs,  you  will  not  be  understood ;  but  for  a  dime's 
worth,  and  they  are  in  your  hands  in  a  trice.  —  Sketches  of  New  Orleans.  N.  Y. 
Tribune. 

The  cun'cncy  [in  New  Orleans]  is  more  truly  national  than  that  of  any  other  part  of 
the  United  States.  Every  thing  sells  by  dimes  and  h.a\S-dimes,  "bits  "  and  "  pica- 
yunes "  being  the  same  value ;  and  as  for  copper  money,  I  have  not  seen  the  first 
red  cent.  — Bayard  Taylor,  Letter  from  N.  0.,  July,  1849. 

Dimes.  Common  in  the  West  and  South  for  money.  "  She 's  got  the 
dimes,"  i.  e.  she  is  an  heiress. 

Ding.    Very,  excessively.    A  Southern  word.     See  Dam. 

It  was  ding  hot;  so  I  sot  down  to  rest  a  bit  under  the  trees.  —  Chron.  ofPtne- 
viUe. 

Dinged.  Very,  excessively.  An  expletive  peculiar  to  the  South,  the 
equivalent  of  the  Northern  darned. 

You  know  it 's  a  dinged  long  ride  from  Pineville,  and  it  took  me  most  two  days 
to  get  there.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship. 

DiNGLiNG.     Tottering,  insecure ;  prob.  i.  q.  dangling. 

We  have  been  telling  our  readers  that  federalism  is  just  now  in  a  very  dingling 
way,  while  the  Express  insists  that  the  democracy  is  in  the  same  condition. — N.  Y, 
True  San,  Aug.  26,  1848. 

Dining-room  servant.    A  male  house-servant  or  waiter. 

To  Dip  Snuff.  A  mode  of  taking  tobacco,  practised  by  women  in  some 
parts  of  the  United  States,  and  particularly  at  the  South,  may  be  thus 
described :  A  little  pine  stick  or  bit  of  rattan  about  three  inches  long, 
split  up  like  a  brush  at  one  end,  is  first  ~\vetted  and  then  dipped  into  snufi"; 
with  this  the  teeth  are  rubbed,  sometimes  by  the  hour  together.  Some 
tie  the  snuff  in  a  little  bag,  and  chew  it.  These  filthy  practices,  which 
originated  in  the  use  of  snuff  for  cleansing  the  teeth,  seem  to  be  rapidly 
going  out  of  use,  at  least  at  the  North. 

11 


122  DIP  — DIS 

Dipper.  A  small  aquatic  bird,  common  tlirougliout  the  United  States; 
also  called  the  Water- witch  and  Hell-diver.  {Horned  grebe.  Nuttall, 
Ornith.)  —  Nat.  Hist,  of  New  Torh. 

DiPSY.  A  term  applied,  in  some  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  to  the  float  of  a 
fishing-line. 

Dirt.  This  word  is  used  more  commonly  and  frequently  with  us  than  in 
England,  to  denote  earth,  clay,  etc.  An  English  traveller  in  the  United 
States  observes,  that  he  heard  a  man  speak  of  his  having  wheeled  dirt  to 
repair  a  road.  A  "  dirt  road,"  as  distinguished  from  a  turnpike-road,  is 
often  heard  in  the  West.  The  "  dirt-cairt"  or  cart  which  removes  street 
sweepings,  would,  in  London,  be  called  a  "  dust-cart." 

In  California,  "  dirt "  is  the  universal  word  to  signify  the  substance  dug ;  earth, 
day,  gravel,  or  loose  slate.  The  miners  talk  of  rich  dirt  and  poor  dirt,  and  of  strip- 
ping off  so  many  feet  of  "  top  dhi.  "  before  getting  to  "  pay  diH,"  the  latter  mean- 
ing dirt  with  so  much  gold  in  it  that  it  will  pay  to  dig  it  up  and  wash  it.  — Borth- 
loick's  California,  p.  120. 

To  Dispell  owsHip.  To  dispossess  of  church-membership.  A  monstrous 
word.     See  To  Fellowship. 

No  person  that  has  been  disfeUowshipped,  or  excommunicated  from  the  church,  will 
be  allowed  to  go  forth  in  the  dance  that  is  conducted  by  the  sanction  and  authority 
of  the  church.  —  Mormon  Regulation,  published  in  the  Frontier  (Iowa)  Guardian, 
Nov.  28,  1849. 

Disguised  in  Liquor,  or  simply  disguised.    Intoxicated. 

To  Disremember.     To  forget.     Used  chiefly  in  the  Southern  States. 

"  Well,  I  disremember  about  that,"  said  the  "Widow  Bedott,  "  but  I  do  remember 
o'  hearin'  you  blow  the  Elder  up  for  goin'  to  Baptist  mcetin'."  —  Bedott  Papers,  p. 
129. 

It 's  a  curious  story,  and  I  '11  tell  you  all  of  it  I  can  think  on.  But  some  things 
perhaps  I  may  disremember.  — Western  Tale,  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

I  '11  thank  you,  when  we  meet  again,  not  to  disremember  the  old  saying,  but  let 
every  man  skin  his  own  skunks.  —  David  Crockett. 

To  Dissipate.  To  practise  dissipation,  to  live  idly  or  ii-regularly ;  to  dis- 
perse.    Colloquial  in  the  United  States.  —  Worcester. 

Distressed.  (Pron.  dis-tress'-ed.)  Miserable,  wretched.  "Distressed 
man ! "  was,  and  perhaps  is,  a  favorite  exclamation  with  ladies  at  the 
North. 

"  Why,"  said  the  peddler  to  the  Widow  Bedott,  who  had  selected  an  article  for 
her  wedding  dress,  "  a  body  'd  think  't  was  some  cverlastin'  old  maid,  instead  of  a 
handsome  young  widder  that  had  chosen  such  a  distressed  tiling  for  a  wcddin' 
dl«ss." —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  113. 

District  Courts.  In  American  law.  Courts  held  in  each  of  the  thirty- 
five  districts  into  which  the  United  States  are  divided,  consisting  each  of  a 


DIV  — DOC  123 

single  judge,  and  which  act  both  as  courts  of  common  law  and  as  courts 
of  admiralty. 

Divide.  The  name  applied  by  Western  hunters  and  guides  to  a  ridge  of 
land  which  divides  waters  running  in  different  directions ;  a  dividing 
ridge. 

We  commenced  to  ascend  another  divide  ;  and  as  we  approached  the  summit,  the 
narrow  valley  leading  to  it  was  covered  with  timber  and  long  grass. — Emory's  New 
Mexico  and  California,  p.  105. 

The  eastern  fork  [of  the  Arkansas]  skirts  the  base  of  the  range,  coming  from  the 
ridge,  called  the  divide,  which  separates  the  waters  of  the  Platte  from  the  Arkan- 
sas.— Ruxton's  Adventures,  p.  241. 

Continued  our  route  towards  an  opening  in  the  elevated  ridge  which  stretched 
across  our  path  in  a  direction  from  north  to  south,  called  the  divide.  —  Bartlett's  Per- 
sonal Narrative,  Vol.  I.  p.  73. 

DivORT.  This  word  expresses  fully  what  no  word  at  present  does.  The 
word  "  divide  "  is  not  etymologically  applicable,  as  it  does  not  convey  the 
idea  of  altitude  as  the  cause  of  separation ;  while  the  word  divort  implies 
elevation,  the  cause  of  the  divortia  aquarum  —  whence  its  derivation 
also.  —  Dr.  Antisell,  Geolog.  Rept.  Pacific  R.  R.  Sui-vey,  Vol.  VII. 

On  crossing  the  divort  between  the  small  stream,  a  tributary  of  the  Salinas,  and 
the  waters  of  the  San  Antonio,  this  bed  was  found  to  occupy  a  large  surface  and  to 
be  the  uppennost  rock.  — Dr.  Antisell,  ibid.  p.  40. 

Do  box't,  for  do  not  or  donH,  is  a  common  expression  in  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina,  and  not  by  any  means  confined  to  the  uneducated 
classes. 

Do  TELL  !  A  vulgar  exclamation  common  in  New  England,  and  synony- 
mous with  really !  indeed !  is  it  possible ! 

A  bright-eyed  little  demoiselle  from  Virginia  came  running  into  the  dairy  of  a 
country-house  in  New  Hampshire,  at  which  her  mother  was  spending  the  summer, 
with  a  long  story  about  a  most  beautiful  butterfly  she  had  been  chasing ;  and  the 
dairy-maid,  after  hearing  the  story  through,  exclaimed,  Do  tell !  The  child  imme- 
diately repeated  the  story,  and  the  good-natured  maid,  aflcr  hearing  it  through  a 
second  time,  exclaimed  again,  in  a  tone  of  still  greater  wonder.  Do  tell !  A  third 
time  the  story  was  told,  and  the  tliird  time  came  the  exclamation  of  wonder,  Do  tell! 
The  child's  spiiits  were  dashed,  and  she  went  to  her  mother  with  a  sad  tale  about 
Ruth's  teasing  her ;  while  poor  Ruth  said  that  "those  daown  country  gals  were  so 
strange ;  keep  telling  me  the  same  thing  over  and  over,  — I  never  see  any  thing 
like  it !  "  — iV.  Y.  Com.  Adv. 

DoBBER.     A  float  to  a  fishing-line.     So  called  in  New  York. 

The  most  singular  luck  attended  Ten  Broeck,  who,  falling  overboard,  was  mirac- 
ulously preserved  from  sinking  by  his  nether  garments.  Thus  buoyed  up,  he  floated 
on  the  waves  like  an  angler's  dobber,  etc.  — Irving,  Knickerbocker. 

Docious.  A  corruption  of  docile,  as  "  a  docious  young  man,"  "  a  docioiis 
horse." 


124  DOC  — DOG 

I  was  so  mad  that  I  swore  just  nigh  on  to  half  an  hour,  right  straight  on  eend.  I 
can  hardly  keep  my  tongue  docious  now  to  talk  about  it.  —  Western  Life.  N.  Y. 
Spirit  of  the  Times. 

DociTT.  (Pron.  dossity.)  A  low  word,  used  in  some  parts  of  the  United 
States  to  signify  quick  comprehension.  It  is  only  used  in  conversation, 
and  generally  with  a  negative,  thus :  "  He  has  no  docity."  It  is  a  pro- 
vincial word  in  England.  —  Pickering. 

Dock.  We  often  apply  the  term  to  the  "slip"  or  space  hetween  two 
piers  for  the  reception  of  vessels.  It  is  believed  to  be  restricted  in 
England  to  an  enclosed  basin.  " Balance  dock"  " sectional  dock," 
"  screw  dock,"  are  none  of  them  really  docks,  but  contrivances  by  which 
vessels  are  raised  from  the  water  for  repair. 

DoCKMACKiE.  (Viburnum  acerifolium.^  Probably  named  by  the  Dutch, 
among  whom  the  plant  was  used  for  external  applications  in  tumors,  etc, 
a  practice  learned  by  them  from  the  Indians. 

Dock  Walloper.    A  loafer  that  hangs  about  the  wharves.     New  York. 

Doctor.     The  cook  on  board  a  ship ;  so  called  by  seamen. 

Dod  fetched,     a  euphemistic  form  of  swearing. 

Liddy,  do  n't  be  so  pesky  starch,  I  '11  be  dod  fetched  if  I  meant  any  harm.  — 
Southern  Sketches. 

Confound  it.     A  euphemistic  oath. 


Dod  drat  it. 

He  began  cussin'  like  all  wrath,  and  says  he,  dod  rot  that  old  Mike  Sliouter.  — 
Southern  Sketches,  p.  31. 

Here 's  the  old  man  agoin'  to  give  you  another  wallopin'.  I  '11  cut  and  run,  and 
dot  drot  me  if  I  don't.  — Sam  Slick.     Human  Nature,  p.  60. 

Dodger.     A  hard  baked  cake  or  biscuit.     See   Corn-dodger  and  Beef- 
dodger. 

To  Dog.     To  hunt  with  dogs. 

"What  is  to  be  the  fate  of  Soulouque  and  his  subjects  ?  How  long  will  it  take  to 
pick  a  quan'cl  Avith  tliera,  and  when  will  regiments  from  the  South,  trained  at  home 
to  the  hunting  and  dogging  of  fugitive  slaves,  achieve  what  Bonaparte  could  not,  the 
reenslavement  of  Hayti,  and  wipe  out  in  blood  "  the  horrors  of  St.  Domingo,"  the 
standing  bugbear  of  emancipation  ?  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Nov.  8,  1854. 

Dog  gauned.     An  anagi-ammatic  form  of  swearing.     Southern. 

If  there 's  a  dog-goned  abolitionist  aboard  tliis  boat,  I  should  like  to  see  him.  I  'm 
the  man  to  put  a  chunk  o'  lead  into  his  woolly  head  right  off.  —  Gladstone.  English- 
man in  Kansas,  p.  46. 

No,  says  I,  I  won't  do  no  sich  dog  on  thing ;  for  when  I  likes  a  chap,  I  likes  him. 
But  if  you  want  to  fight,  I  'm  your  man.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  33. 

Dogged.     A  euphemistic  oath ;  as,  "  I  '11  be  dogged  if  I  do  it." 


DOG  — DON  125 

Doggery.  A  low  drinking-house.  West  and  South.  The  "  Cleveland 
Plaindealer,"  in  speaking  of  the  riotous  proceedings  connected  with  the 
Erie  Railroad  troubles,  says : 

The  mob  crowded  the  sheriff  on,  and  drove  him  into  the  Key  Stone  Saloon,  a 
small  doggery,  where  they  kept  him  for  half  an  hour. 

Doings.  (Pron.  rfotns.)  Prepared  food ;  victuals.  A  Western  vulgarism. 
See  Chicken  Fixings. 

If  thar  was  n't  cold  doins  about  that  time  (in  the  mountains),  this  child  would  n't 
say  so.  Thar  was  no  buflfiilo  and  no  meat,  and  we  had  been  livin'  on  our  moccasins 
for  weeks  ;  and  poor  doins  that  fecdin'  is.  — Ruxton's  Life  in  the  Far  West,  p.  17. 

Dollar  mark  ($).  The  origin  of  this  sign  to  represent  the  dollar  has 
been  the  cause  of  much  discussion.  One  writer  says  it  comes  from  the 
letters  U.  S.  (United  States),  which,  after  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  were  prefixed  to  the  federal  currency,  and  which  after- 
wards, in  the  hurry  of  writing,  were  run  into  one  another ;  the  U  being 
made  first  and  the  S  over  it.  Another,  that  it  is  derived  from  the  con- 
traction of  the  Spanish  word  pesos,  dollars,  £>t  pesos  fuertes,  hard  dollars. 
A  third  that  it  is  a  contraction  for  the  Spanish  fuertes,  hard,  to  distin- 
guish silver  or  hard  dollars  from  paper-money.  The  more  probable 
explanation  is,  that  it  is  a  modification  of  the  figures  |,  formerly  used 
to  denote  a  piece  of  eight  reals,  or,  as  a  dollar  was  then  called,  a  piece 
of  eight. 

As  to  my  boat,  it  was  a  very  good  one ;  and  that  he  saw,  and  told  me  he  would 
buy  it  of  me  for  the  ship's  use ;  and  asked  me  what  I  would  have  for  if?  I  told 
him  that  I  could  not  offer  to  make  any  price  of  the  boat,  but  left  it  entirely  to  him ; 
upon  which  he  told  me  he  would  give  me  a  note  of  hand  to  pay  me  eighty  pieces  of 
eight  for  it  in  Brazil.  He  offered  me  also  sixty  pieces  of  eight  more  for  my  boy 
Xury,  which  I  was  loath  to  take ;  not  that  I  was  not  willing  to  let  the  captain  have 
him,  but  I  was  loath  to  sell  the  poor  boy's  liberty,  who  had  assisted  me  so  faithfully 
in  procuring  my  o^vn.  — Robinson  Crusoe,  sec.  4. 

A  variety  of  other  theories  will  be  found  in  the  Historical  Magazine, 
Vol.  I.  pp.  122,  186,  245. 

DoLESS.     Inefficient.     "  He  *s  a  doless  sort  of  a  fellow." 

DoLiTTLE.     A  drone ;  an  idle  person. 

Domestics.  (Used  only  in  the  plural.)  Domestic  goods,  i.  e.  cotton  goods 
of  American  manufacture. 

Donate.  To  give  as  a  donation  ;  to  contribute.  This  word  is  not  yet  in 
the  dictionaries,  but  has  only  reached  the  newspapers  and  reviews. 

There  have  been  received  from  the  Foreign  Bible  Society  $7,000,  not  including 
$1,000  recently  donated.  —  Baptist  Missionary  Herald,  Rep.  1846. 

The  display  of  articles  exhibited   [at  the  Fair  in  Albany]  was  very  tasteful  and 
11* 


126  DON— DON 

attractive ;  and  the  friends  of  the  cause  in  Massachusetts  and  other  places  donated 
liberally.  —  iV.  Y.  Tribune,  Nov.  6,  1846. 

Mr.  Peabody  donates  to  the  city  of  Baltimore  an  institute  for  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual culture  of  the  inhabitants. — N.  Y.  Herald,  Feb.  19,  1857. 

DoNATiox.  That  which  is  given  or  bestowed  ;  a  gift,  a  grant.  Donation 
is  usually  applied  to  things  of  more  value  than  presents.  —  Webster. 

Webster  says  that  donation  is  usually  applied  to  things  of  more  value  than  pres- 
ents ;  but  while  such  may  be  true  in  the  States,  I  have  known  it  applied  here  to  a 
basket  of  musty  cakes.  I  suppose  that  donation  has  a  certain  meaning  in  law.  Its 
most  ordinary  English  application  is  to  a  single  gift  in  money,  in  contradistinction  to 
the  periodical  payments  of  a  fixed  sum  or  subscription.  "When  applied  to  a  present, 
public  or  private,  I  apprehend  such  an  application  of  the  term  has  its  origin  in  mere 
pomposity.  The  language  stands  in  no  need  of  such  an  expression  so  long  as  we 
have  our  old  Saxon  (7//?. — Rev.  A.  C.  Geikie,  Canadian  Journal,  Sept.  1857. 

Donation  Party.  A  party  consisting  of  the  friends  and  parishioners  of  a 
country  clergyman  assembled  together,  each  individual  bringing  some 
article  of  food  or  clothing  as  a  present  to  him.  "Where  the  salary  of  a 
clergyman  is  small,  the  contributions  at  a  donation  party  are  very  ac- 
ceptable.    It  is  also  called  a  giving  party. 

In  the  "  Bedott  Papers  "  is  an  amusing  description  of  a  donation  party 
given  to  a  country  minister  who  had  a  salary  of  but  $400  a  year.  On 
this  occasion  the  visitors  were  very  numerous,  and  the  articles  presented 
so  very  few  that  the  minister's  family  were  compelled  to  contribute  the 
larger  portion  of  the  refreshments.  The  poor  clergyman  sent  in  his  res- 
ignation immediately  after,  and,  on  being  asked  by  a  deacon  for  the  rea- 
son of  his  sudden  withdrawal,  answered  : 

I  've  been  yoiu*  pastor  two  years,  and  you  'vc  had  the  kindness  to  give  me  two 
donation  parties.  I  've  stood  it  so  far,  but  I  can't  stand  it  any  longer ;  brethren,  I 
feel  convinced  that  one  more  donation  party  would  completely  break  me  down.  — 
p.  271. 

Done,  instead  of  did;  as,  "I  done  it,"  "They  done  the  business."  A 
common  vulgarism  in  the  State  of  New  Yorlt,  also  heard  in  the  province 
of  Leinster,  Ireland.  An  officer  wrote  to  his  general  in  the  late  war,  that 
his  troops  "  done  their  duty ; "  and  in  certain  letters  purporting  to  be 
from  the  "  upper  ten  "  in  praise  of  Dr.  Townsend's  medicines,  we  read 
that  "  they  done  the  writers  great  good." 

Done  with  a  past  participle,  as  "  He  's  done  come,  done  gone,  done  said, 
done  did  it,"  etc.,  is  a  negro  vulgarism  frequently  heard  at  the  South. 

Oh  !  she  waked  roe  in  the  momin',  and  it 's  broad  day ; 
I  look'd  for  my  canoe,  and  it 's  done  gone  away. 

Porter's  Tales  of  the  Southwest,  p.  133. 

I'm  mighty  easy  on  the  trigger,  and  the  next  mornin'  I  was  done  gone.  I  kissed 
the  old  woman,  spanked  the  children,  threatcn'd  the  niggers,  promised  the  overseer 


DON  — DOT  •  127 

a  new  covering  and  demijohn  of  red  eye  if  all  went  straight,  got  all  my  little  fixins 
together,  and  off  I  set.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  2'imes. 

"  Why,  Tomtit,  what  upon  earth  is  this  for  ?  "  said  Nina. 

"  Laws,  missis,  there 's  been  a  gentleman  waiting  for  you  these  two  hours.  And 
missis,  she's  done  got  on  her  best  cap,  and  gone  down  in  the  parlor  for  him."  — 
Mrs.  Stowe,  Drcd,  Vol.  I.  p.  139. 

"  How  d'y  Miss  Kate,"  returned  Bob  grinning ;  "  Uncle  Pete  is  done  dead  and 
buried." 

"  Is  that  a  fact  1 "  asked  Mr.  Mitchell,  looking  out. 

"  Fac  truf,  Mas'r !  an  what 's  more.  Aunt  Milly  is  like  to  die  too  ;  she 's  gray 
herself  nearly  to  death  'bout  it."  —  Emma  Bartlett. 

DONOCK.  A  stone  ;  a  term  almost  peculiar  to  Arkansas,  though  used  more 
or  less  throughout  the  South. 

Then  bring  me  a  couple  of  donocks, 

Place  them  at  my  head  and  my  toe. 

And  do  not  forget  to  write  on  it 

The  name  of  old  Eosin-the-bow.  —  Song,  Rosin  the  Bow. 

Don't.  The  proper  colloquial  contraction  for  do  not ;  and  which  should 
therefore  be  used  only  in  the  first  person  singular  and  in  the  plural.  Yet 
we  very  often  hear  it  instead  of  doesn't  for  does  not ;  as,  "  He  dor^t  tell 
the  truth." 

Here  is  the  source  of  all  the  trouble  and  dissatisfaction  in  what  may  be  called  the 
countiy  life  of  gentlemen  amateurs  or  citizens  in  this  country, — it  don't  pay. — 
Downing's  Rural  Essays. 

I  Don't  know  as  I  shan't,  for  I  don't  know  but  I  shall.  This  uncouth 
expression,  Mr.  Hurd  says,  is  very  common  in  the  eastern  towns  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, near  Cape  Cod.  —  Grammatical  Corrector. 

To  Doom.    To  tax  at  discretion.    A  New  England  term. 

When  a  person  neglects  to  make  a  return  of  his  taxable  property  to 
the  assessors  of  a  town,  those  officers  doom  him ;  that  is,  Judge  upon,  and 
fix  his  tax  according  to  their  discretion.  —  Pichering. 

The  estates  of  all  merchants,  shopkeepers,  and  factors,  shall  be  assessed  by  the 
rule  of  common  estimation,  according  to  the  will  and  doom  of  the  assessors.  —  Mas- 
sachusetts  Colony  Laws,  p.  14,  ed.  1660. 

Doomage.  A  penalty,  or  fine,  for  neglect.  Laws  of  New  Hampshire.  — 
Webster. 

DoKEE.  A  fish  commonly  called  John  Dory  with  us  as  in  England.  This 
last  name  is  a  corruption  of  the  French  jaune  doree,  golden  yellow, 
which  is  the  color  of  the  fish. 

DoRT.     A  kind  of  canoe. 

Doted.     Changed,  or  half  rotten ;  as  "  doted  wood."    West  and  South. 


128  DOU  — DOU 

Double.  A  flower  the  number  of  whose  petals  is  increased  by  cultivation 
is  said  to  be  double  ;  when  the  increase  is  very  great,  it  is  termed  very 
double  ! 

Dough-faces.  A  contemptuous  nickname,  applied  to  the  Northern 
favorers  and  abettors  of  negro  slavery.  This  term  may  be  regarded 
as  nearly  or  quite  synonymous  with  the  English  "  nose  of  wax."  Gen- 
erally it  means  a  pliable  politician,  —  one  who  is  accessible  to  personal 
influences  and  considerations.  It  was  first  applied,  however,  by  John 
Randolph  of  Roanoke  to  such  Northern  members  of  congress  as  mani- 
fested especial  willingness  to  fall  in  with  the  views  and  demands  of  the 
South  on  questions  involving  the  "  peculiar  institution."  Speaking  of  the 
Northern  Democrats,  he  bitterly  said : 

I  knew  that  these  men  would  give  way.  They  were  scared  at  thoii'  o^vn  dough- 
faces —  yes,  they  were  scared  at  their  own  dough-faces.  "We  had  them,  and  if  we 
had  wanted  more,  we  could  have  had  them. 

The  truth  is,  that  while  the  Southerners  need  and  are  willing  to  pay  for  the  ser- 
vices of  the  doughfaces,  they  dislike  their  persons  and  despise  their  discourse.  — N, 
Y.  Tribune,  April,  1848. 

Thanks  to  a  kind  Providence,  and  the  manly  straightforwardness  of  John  C. 
Calhoun,  the  great  question  of  extension  or  non-extension  of  human  slavery  under 
the  flag  of  this  republic  is  to  be  pressed  to  a  decision  now.  Desperate,  idolatrous, 
and  blind  as  is  his  devotion  to  slavery,  we  would  sooner  see  him  President  to-mor- 
row than  any  doughface  in  the  Union.     Ibid.,  June  29,  1848. 

This  term  has  also  been  applied  to  Southern  men  who  are  false  to  the 
principles  of  slavery,  as  Northern  doughfaces  are  to  the  principles  of 
freedom. 

There  was  a  disposition  in  the  senate  to  evade  the  question — to  slip  a  bill  for  the 
establishment  of  the  Oregon  tei-ritory  through  the  senate,  without  calling  attention 
to  the  slavery  question,  and  under  the  immediate  pressure  of  the  demand  made  for 
the  military  defence  of  the  territory  from  the  Indians.  Tlio  whigs  of  the  North  and 
of  the  South  were  silent.  The  democratic  Cass  men  of  the  North  and  of  the  South 
were  mum.  Two  thirds  of  tlie  senate  were  doughfaced.  There  are  Southern  as 
well  as  Northern  doughfaces ;  men  looking  to  the  spoils  care  not  for  principles,  — 
whether  they  be  of  the  Nortli  or  of  the  South.  —  Washington  Cor.  N.  Y.  Com.  Adv., 
June  4,  1848. 

DouGH-FACiSM.     Truckling  to  the  slave  power. 

The  slaveholders  will  cling  to  the  institutions  of  slavery  as  long  as  new  markets 
arCbeing  opened  for  their  slaves.  Let  the  people  of  the  free  States  see  to  it  that  it 
is  circumvented  by  every  reasonable  means.  If  they  are  firm,  the  doughfacism  of 
their  representatives  will  be  cured.  — Letter  of  J.  C.  Snodgrass,  of  Baltimore,  1849. 

DouGH-HEAD.    A  soft-pated  fellow,  a  fool. 

DouGH-NUT.  A  small  roundish  cake,  made  of  flour,  eggs,  and  sugar, 
moistened  with  mUk,  and  boiled  in  lai'd.  —  Webster.     According  to  Halli- 


DOV— DOW  129 

well,  the  term  donnut  is  used  in  Hertshire,  to  denote  a  pancake  made  of 
dough  instead  of  batter.  In  speaking  of  the  preparations  for  a  picnic, 
Mr.  ShiUaber  says : 

And  then  he  lays  in  lots  of  pickings, 

Mammoth  dough-nuts,  legs  of  chickens  ; 

For  prices  down  at  Hampton  Beach 

Are  very  much  beyond  his  reach.  — Poems. 

Mr.  Elliott,  in  describing  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  olden  time 
in  New  England,  says : 

At  the  supper  table  many  a  sweet  thing  was  whispered  behind  a  dough-nut,  and 
many  a  sentiment  tucked  in  a  pie.  — New  England  History,  Vol.  I.  p.  468. 

Hannah  is  a  smart,  willin'  gall,  and  a  rael  worker,  and  a  prime  cook  into  the  bar- 
gain ;  but  let  her  alone  for  in  the  dough-nut  line  and  for  pumpkin  pies.  — McClin- 
toch's  Tales. 

Dove.  Dived.  Very  common  among  seamen,  and  not  confined  to  them. 
The  Rev.  A.  C.  Geikie  says:  In  England,  when  a  swimmer  makes 
his  first  leap,  head  foremost,  into  the  water,  he  is  said  to  dive,  and  is 
spoken  of  as  having  dived,  in  accordance  with  the  ordinary  and  regular 
construction  of  the  verb.  Not  so,  however,  is  it  with  the  modern  re- 
finements of  our  Canadian  English.  In  referring  to  such  a  fact  here,  it 
would  be  said,  not  that  he  dived,  but  that  he  dove.  Even  Longfellow 
makes  use  of  this  form  —  so  harsh  and  unfamiliar  to  English  ears  —  in 
the  musical  measures  of  his  Hiawatha : 

"  Straight  into  the  river  Kwasind 
Plunged  as  if  he  were  an  otter, 
Dove  as  if  he  were  a  beaver,"  etc. 

Canadian  Journal,  Sept.  1857. 

DowD.  A  woman's  night-cap,  composed  of  two  pieces  of  cloth,  the  seam 
running  from  the  forehead  to  the  neck.  It  is  sometimes  called  a  "  squaw- 
shaped  cap."  New  York.  The  word  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in 
Devonshire,  England. 

Down  upox.  To  be  down  upon  is  to  seize  with  avidity,  as  a  bird  of  prey 
would  pounce  down  upon  its  victim.  Alluding  to  the  state  of  the  poultry 
mai'ket,  the  New  York  Tribune  says : 

The  boarding-house  keepers  are  down  upon  geese. 

This  phrase  is  also  used  to  express  disapprobation,  dislike,  or  enmity ; 
as,  "  I  '11  be  down  upon  you,"  i.  e.  I  '11  come  up  with  you,  or  pay  you  off 
for  some  injury  or  insult,  etc.  A  common  expression  at  the  West  is, 
"  I  '11  be  down  upon  you  like  a  thousand  of  brick." 

DowTf  Cellar,  for  down  in  or  into  the  cellar,  is  a  common  New  England 
expression.     So  too  is  "  up  garret." 


130  DOW— DBA 

Down  East.     In  or  into  the  Eastern  States,  i.  e.  New  England. 

We  have  never  heard  of  better  missionary  ground  than  down  East ;  the  people 
intelligent,  the  climate  healtliful,  the  villages  numerous  and  wealthy.  — N.  Y.  Chris- 
tian Enquirer,  Sept.  9,  1848. 

Mr.  Hill,  in  one  of  liis  visits  down  East,  was  belated  one  evening,  and  was  com- 
pelled to  seek  shelter  in  a  farm-house.  —  G.  H.  Hill,  Tales. 

Down  Easter.    A  New  Englander. 

To  DoxoLOGizE.     To  give  glory  to  God,  as  in  doxology.  —  Webster. 

No  instance  is  to  be  found  in  which  primitive  Christians  doxologized  the  spirit  of 
God  as  a  person.  —  Christian  Disciple,  Vol.  II.  p.  295. 

Mr.  Pickering  says  lie  "  never  met  with  the  word  in  any  other  Ameri- 
can work,  nor  in  any  Enghsh  publication ;  but  that  it  may  possibly  be  a 
part  of  the  professional  language  of  divines."  Mr.  P.  further  observes, 
that  he  found  it  in  the  early  editions  of  the  dictionaries  of  Ash  and  Bai- 
ley, from  which  it  was  afterwards  discarded.  Mr.  Worcester  has  inserted 
the  word  in  his  new  dictionary. 

Drag  out.  A  "  knock  down  and  drag  out  "  is  a  fight  carried  to  extremi- 
ties. The  term  drag  out  seems  to  be  also  used,  at  the  South,  to  denote  a 
bully,  a  tearer. 

Set  to  your  partner,  Dolly,  —  Cut  him  out,  Jim,  —  Sal  does  put  her  foot  down 
good.  The  yallow  roan 's  up  !  He 's  a  rael  stormer,  ring  clipper,  snow  belcher,  and 
drag  out.  —  Southern  Sketches. 

Dragged  out.     Fatigued,  exhausted,  worn  out  with  labor. 

To  Draw  a  Bead.  To  take  aim  with  a  rifle,  by  gradually  raising  the 
front  sight,  called  the  bead,  to  a  level  with  the  hind  sight. 

One  look  from  the  Colonel  brought  White's  rifle  up  to  his  cheek ;  he  drew  a  bead 
on  him  mighty  quick,  and  the  lawyer  stopped  his  lumbering  and  moved  off.  —  N.  Y. 
Spirit  of  the  Times,  Western  Tale. 

The  Missourians,  with  their  long  five  foot  barrel  rifles,  which  were  their  constant 
companions,  could  draw  a  head  on  a  deer,  a  squirrel,  or  the  wliite  of  an  Indian's  eye, 
with  equal  coolness  and  certainty  of  killing.  —  Borthwick's  Californian,  p.  151. 

The  moon  rose,  ....  and  rifle  in  hand  we  approached  the  trees  where  the  uncon- 
scious birds  were  roosting.  Creeping  along  the  round,  I  raised  my  rifle  and 
endeavored  to  obtain  a  sight,  but  the  light  was  too  obscure  to  draw  a  bead.  —  Eux- 
ton's  Adventures  in  Mexico,  p.  181. 

To  Draw  a  straight  Furrow.  A  metaphor  taken  from  the  ploughman. 
To  live  uprightly  or  decorously. 

Governor  B.  is  a  sensible  man ; 

He  stays  to  his  home  and  looks  arter  his  folks  ; 
He  draws  his  furrow  as  straight  as  he  can, 

And  into  nobody's  tater-patch  pokes.  —  The  Biglow  Papers. 


DEE  — DRI  181 

Dbeadful.  Very,  exceedingly.  This  and  the  words  awful,  terrible,  des- 
perate, monstrous,  etc.,  are  indiscriminately  used  by  uneducated  people 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  emphasis  to  an  expression. 

There  was  a  swod  of  fine  folks  at  Saratoga,  and  dreadful  nice  galls.  —  Maj. 
Downing's  Letters,  p.  35. 

It's  a  fact,  Major,  the  public  has  a  dreadful  cravin'  appetite  for  books.  —  Ihid. 
May-Day  in  N.  Y.,  p.  4. 

The  young  ladies  thought  Mr.  Harley's  new  storekeeper  a  dreadful  nice  young 
man,  if  he  had  n't  such  a  horrid  nose.  — Chronicles  of  Pineville. 

She  was  a  dreadful  good  creature  to  work.  —  Mrs.  Clavers. 

It  is  used  in  the  same  way  in  England,  in  the  "Westmoreland  and 
Cumberland  dialects  : 

I  send  to  tliis  an,  to  tell  thee  amackily  what  dreadful  fine  things  I  saw  i'  th'  road 
tuv  at  yon  Dublin.  — Poems  and  Glossary,  p.  125. 

To  Dress.  To  dress  to  death,  dress  to  kill,  dress  to  the  nines,  and,  in  the 
South,  to  dress  up  drunk,  are  women's  phrases,  which  signify  to  overdress, 
dress  to  excess. 

When  you  see  a  gentleman  tipteering  along  Broadway,  with  a  lady  wiggle-wag- 
ging by  his  side,  and  both  dressed  to  kill,  as  the  vulgar  would  say,  you  may  say 
that  he  looks  out  for  himself  and  takes  care  of  A.  No.  1.  — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I. 
p.  208. 

Drink.  A  river.  "  The  Big  Drink  "  is  a  common  term  applied  by  South- 
western people  to  the  Mississippi  River. 

The  old  boat  was  a  rouser  —  the  biggest  on  the  drink,  had  the  best  officers,  and 
paid  the  best  prices.  —  Maj.  Bunkum,  in  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

He  kept  shoving  the  boat  out,  and  the  first  thing  I  knowd,  down  I  went,  kerwash 
into  the  drink.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  36. 

About  cvenin'  I  got  my  small  dug-out,  and  fixin'  my  rifle  in  the  fore  eend,  I  jest 
paddled  over  the  drink.  — A  Night  on  the  Missouri. 

Drinking.     "  He 's  a  drinking  man,"  i.  e.  a  toper. 

Drive.  In  Texas,  the  annual  gathering  of  large  herds  of  cattle  for  the 
purpose  of  branding.  This  is  provided  for  by  law  in  California.  See 
Rodeo,  and  Judges  of  the  Plain. 

When  a  regular  drive  is  made,  a  dozen  neighbors,  from  twenty  miles  or  more 
about,  assemble  at  a  place  agreed  upon,  each  man  bringing  two  or  three  extra 
horses.  These  are  driven  before  the  company,  and  form  the  nucleus  of  the  cattle 
herd  collected.  They  first  drive  the  outer  part  of  the  circuit,  within  which  their  cat- 
tle are  supposed  to  range,  the  radius  of  which  is  here  about  forty  miles.  All  cattle 
having  their  marks,  and  all  calves  following  their  cows,  are  herded  and  driven  to 
pens  which  have  been  prepared.  They  are  absent  from  two  to  three  weeks  upon  the 
first  drive,  usually  contriving  to  arrive  by  night  at  a  pen  in  which  the  stock  are 
enclosed,  otherwise  guarding  them  in  the  open  prairie.    When  the  vicinity  of  a 


132  D  R I  —  D  R  U 

house  is  reached,  the  cattle  are  divided.     The  calves  are  branded,  and  all  tamed 
loose  again.  —  Olmsted's  Texas,  p.  369. 

Drivek.     1,  He  or  that  which  drives;  a  coachman,  a  carman.  —  Worces- 
ter.    In  England,  the  driver  of  a  carriage  is  called  a  "  coachman." 
2.  A  negro-driver,  an  overseer  of  slaves  on  a  plantation. 

To  BE  Driving  at.  "  What  are  you  driving  at  ?  "  that  is,  what  are  you 
about  ?  what  object  have  you  in  view  ?  A  colloquial  expression,  in  very 
common  use. 

"VYe  confess  that  we  are  exceedingly  puzzled  to  know  exactly  what  our  long-cher- 
ished friend  is  driving  at,  in  his  repeated  discussions  of  the  question  above  involved. 
—  N.  Y.  Com.  Advertiser. 

People  ludicrate  my  situation,  and  say  tliey  do  n't  know  what  the  deuce  I  'm  driv- 
ing at.  —  Neal's  Charcoal  Sketches. 

"  I  liave  heard  enough  now,"  said  the  recorder,  "  to  know  wliat  you  and  he  would 
be  driving  at."  — Pickings  from  the  Picayune,  p.  135. 

Droger,  or  Drogher.  Lumber  droger;  cotton  droger,  etc.  A  vessel 
built  solely  for  burden,  and  for  transporting  cotton,  lumber,  and  other 
heavy  articles. 

Drop  Game.  A  trick  practised  by  the  light-fingered  gentry  of  New  York 
and  other  eastern  cities  on  their  country  cousins.  One  drops  a  pocket- 
book  containing  a  large  roll  of  bank-notes  a  short  distance  before  an 
approaching  stranger,  which  a  confederate  picks  up  just  as  the  stranger 
is  about  to  do  so.  He  opens  the  roll,  affects  surprise  at  his  discovery, 
manifests  sympathy  for  the  loser,  and  tells  the  stranger,  that,  being  about 
to  leave  town,  he  will  surrender  it  to  him  for  $10  or  $20,  on  condition 
that  he  will  advertise  it  and  endeavor  to  find  the  owner.  Greenhorn 
eagerly  snaps  at  the  tempting  bait ;  but  on  reaching  his  hotel  finds,  of 
course,  that  he  is  the  possessor  of  a  package  of  spurious  money. 

Drop-Letter.  a  letter  dropped  into  the  post-oflSce  for  a  resident  of 
the  same  place,  and  which  is  therefore  not  to  be  mailed. 

Drummer.  A  person  employed  by  city  houses  to  solicit  the  custom  of 
country  merchants.     See  Drumming. 

Drumming,  in  mercantile  phrase,  means  the  soliciting  of  customers.  It  is 
chiefly  used  in  reference  to  country  merchants,  or  those  supposed  to  be 
such.  Instead  of  patiently  waiting  for  these  persons  to  come  and  pur- 
chase, the  merchant  or  his  clerk  goes  to  them  and  solicits  their  custom. 
In  this  manner  the  sale  of  goods  is  often  expedited ;  and  though  the 
practice  of  drumming  is  held  by  some  to  be  neither  very  modest  nor 
very  dignified,  still  it  must  be  owned  to  add  very  largely,  in  certain 
cases,  to  the  amount  of  goods  sold.     Indeed,  without  drumming,  it  is  sus- 


B&>-y   ec^'. 


da^ 


DUB  — DUM  138 

pected  that  sundry  houses  which  make  a  remarkable  show  and   noise 
would  do  veiy  little  business. 

The  expenses  of  drumming  amount  to  no  small  sum.  Besides  em- 
ploying extra  clerks  and  paying  the  extra  price  for  their  board  at  the 
hotels,  the  merchant  has  to  be  very  liberal  with  his  money  in  paying  for 
wine,  oyster  suppers,  theatre  tickets,  and  such  other  means  of  conciliating 
the  favor  of  the  country  merchant  as  are  usually  resorted  to  by  drum- 
mers. —  Perils  of  Pearl  Street,  ch.  9. 

DuBEBSOME.  Doubtful.  A  vulgarism  common  in  the  interior  of  New 
England.     Duherous  is  used  in  England. 

I  have  been  studjin'  Tattersall's  considerable,  to  see  whether  it  is  a  safe  shop  to 
trade  in  or  no.  But  I  'm  dubersome  ;  I  do  n't  like  the  cut  of  the  sporting  folks  here. 
—  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  28. 

Before  noon,  rain  came,  and  then  the  pilot  muttered  that  he  felt  dubersome  about 
the  appearances.  — Lieut.  Wise,  Scampavia,  p.  18. 

DuBOUS.     A  mispronunciation  of  dubious. 

Dug-out.  The  name,  in  the  "Western  States,  for  a  canoe  or  boat  hewn  or 
dug  out  of  a  large  log.  They  are  common  in  all  the  rivers  and  creeks 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  In  the  latter  country  they  are  called 
log  canoes. 

A  cjTjress  suitable  for  a  canoe,  or  dug-out,  was  selected,  and  in  two  days  shaped, 
hollowed  out,  and  launched. — A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p.  35. 

After  a  fashion  I  got  to  my  dug-out,  with  no  weapon  along  but  the  paddle.  Snags 
were  plenty.  I  felt  strong  as  a  boss  too  ;  and  the  dug-out  had  n't  leaped  more  'n 
six  lengths  afore  —  co-souse  I  went !  —  the  front  eend  jest  lifted  itself  agin  a  sawyer 
and  emptied  me  into  the  element.  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

Dull  Music.    A  term  applied  to  any  thing  tedious. 

Dumb.     Stupid. 

Dumb  Chill,  or  Dumb  Ague.  An  expression  common  in  malai'ia  regions 
to  denote  that  form  of  intermittent  fever  ^^jijhich  has  no  well  defined 
«  chUl." 

To  Dump.  To  unload  wood,  coal,  etc.,  from  a  cart  by  tilting  it  up.  The 
word  is  used  in  Devonshire  in  the  sense  of  to  knock  heavily,  to  stump. 
Hence,  probably,  its  American  application. 

You  would  have  thought  it  ridiculous,  my  fair  friends,  if  your  parents  had  told 
you  that  you  were  to  love  such  a  one,  and  nobody  else,  as  though  the  heart's  affec- 
tions were  a  load  of  wood  —  as  easily  dumped  at  one  door  as  another. — Dow's  Ser- 
mons, Vol.  I.  p.  254. 

I  once  got  twenty  dollars  from  an  omnibus  driver  for  running  into  my  carriage,, 
knocking  off  a  wheel,  and  dumping  my  wife  and  child  into  the  street.  —  The  Upper 
Ten  Thousand,  p.  149. 

12 


134  DUM  — DYE 

Dumping-Ground.  A  low  piece  of  ground  where  earth,  etc.,  is  to  be  de- 
posited for  the  purpose  of  raising  its  level. 

There  is  much  difficulty  in  getting  dumping  grounds  for  the  dirt  from  the  streets ; 
but  the  contractors  say  they  can  and  will  do  the  work. — N.  Y.  Tribune,  May  18, 
1857. 

DuNFiSH.  Codfish  cured  in  a  particular  manner,  by  which  they  acquire  a 
dun  color.  They  command  a  higher  price,  and  are  much  superior  to 
those  cured  in  the  ordinary  way. 

Dunning.  A  peculiar  operation  for  curing  codfish.  —  Webster.  Fish  for 
dunning  are  caught  early  in  the  spring,  and  often  in  February.  At  the 
Isles  of  Shoals,  off  Portsmouth,  in  New  Hampshire,  the  cod  are  taken  in 
deep  water,  split,  and  slack-salted ;  then  laid  in  a  pile  for  two  or  three 
months,  in  a  dark  store,  covered,  for  the  greatest  part  of  the  time,  with 
salt  hay  or  eel-grass,  and  pressed  with  some  weight.  In  April  or  May 
they  are  opened  and  piled  as  close  as  possible  in  the  same  dark  store  till 
July  or  August,  when  they  are  fit  for  use.  —  J.  Haven. 

Durham  boat.  A  large,  open,  flat-bottomed  boat  formerly  used  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  Mohawk,  and  other  rivers.  They  were  used  as  freight  boats 
only,  and  were  propelled  against  the  current  by  means  of  poles. 

Dutch.  It  beats  the  Dutch  is  an  expression  often  applied,  in  New  York 
and  New  England,  to  any  thing  astonishing.  The  earliest  instance  of  its 
occurrence  that  I  have  met  with  is  in  a  revolutionary  song  written  during 
the  siege  of  Boston,  in  1775  : 

And  besides  all  the  mortars,  bombs,  cannons,  and  shells. 
And  bullets  and  guns  —  as  the  newspaper  tells. 
Our  cargoes  of  meat,  drink,  and  cloaths  heat  the  Dutch, 
Now  who  would  not  tarry  and  take  t'  other  touch  ? 

New  Eng.  Hist.  Register,  April,  1857,  p.  191. 

Dutchman.    A  flaw  in  a  stone  or  marble  slab,  filled  up  by  an  insertion. 

Dutiable.     Subject  to   the   imposition  of  duties  or  customs.  —  Webster. 
This  is   a  very  convenient  word,  and  is  in  common  use,  both  by  the 
officers  of  the  customs,  and  by  merchants  having  transactions  with  them. 
The  dutiable  imports  this  year  amount  to  about  two  hundred  and  ten  million  dol- 
lars, nearly  one  half  of  which  were  imported  the  first  quarter  of  the  year.  —  Speech 
of  Senator  Wilson,  May  24,  1858. 

Dyed  in  the  "Wool.     Ingrained;  thorough. 

The  democrats,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Cameron's  letter,  are  beginning  to  claim 
General  Taylor  as  a  democrat  dyed  in  the  wool,  as  a  democrat  of  the  Jeffersonian 
order  of  1798.  —N.  Y.  Com.  Adv.,  May  24,  1847. 


EAG  — EDU  135 


E. 


Eagle.  A  gold  coin  of  the  United  States,  of  the  value  of  ten  dollars,  so 
called  from  its  bearing,  on  the  reverse,  the  figure  of  the  American  eagle. 
There  are  also  double-eagles  of  twenty  dollars,  as  well  as  half  and  quar- 
ter-eagles. 

Ear-bob.    An  ear-drop. 

Ear-mark.  The  mark  made  on  a  sheep's  ear  by  its  owner ;  and  hence 
the  token  or  signal  by  which  a  thing  is  known.  So  used  also  in  the 
north  of  England. 

Early  candle-light.  Used  to  denote  the  beginning  of  the  evening ;  as, 
"  The  meeting  will  begin  at  early  candle-light." 

Earth  Almond.  (^Cypei-us  esculentus.)  A  perennial,  indigenous  to 
southern  Europe,  growing  in  the  form  of  a  rush,  some  three  feet  high, 
producing  small  tubes  the  size  of  a  common  bean,  and  called  by  the 
Valencians  "  Chufas."  It  is  one  of  the  plants  distributed  by  the  Patent 
Office  in  1854.  —  White,  Gardening  for  the  South. 

Easy.  A  word  in  common  use  among  merchants  and  bankers.  "  Our 
bank  is  easy"  meaning  that  its  loans  are  not  extended,  or  that  money  is 
plentiful.  "  The  money  market  is  easy  ;  "  or  "  money  is  easy"  i.  e.  loans 
of  money  may  easily  be  procured. 

East.  About  east  is  about  right,  in  a  proper  manner.  A  common  slang 
expression  in  New  Englaud. 

I  went  into  the  dining-room  and  sot  down  afore  a  plate  that  had  my  name  writ  on 
a  card  onto  it ;  and  I  did  walk  into  the  beef  and  'taters  and  things  about  east.  —  H. 
Bigelow's  Letters  in  Family  Comp. 

To  Eat,  v.  a.     To  supply  with  food.     A  Western  use  of  the  word. 

Hoosier.  —  Squire,  what  pay  do  you  give "? 
Contractor.  —  Ten  bits  a  day. 

Hoosier.  —  Why,  Squire,  I  was  told  you  'd  give  us  two  dollars  a  day  and  eat 
us. — Pickings  from  the  Picayune,  p.  47. 

Educational.  Pertaining  to  education  ;  derived  from  education ;  as,  edu- 
cational habits.  —  Webster.  The  authority  cited  by  Webster  for  the  use 
of  this  word  is  "  Smith,"  —  a  rather  indefinite  one.  Mr.  Pickering  says 
the  word  was  new  to  him  until  he  saw  it  in  the  following  extract : 

It  is  believed  that  there  is  not  an  individual  of  the  college  who  would,  if  ques- 
tioned, complain  that  he  has,  in  any  instance,  felt  himself  pressed  with  opinions 
which  interfered  with  his  educational  creed. — Dr.  Grant' s  Report  to  the  Trustees  of 
New  Jersey  College,  1815. 


136  EEL  — EMP 

Eel-grass.  (^Zostera  marina.)  A  plant,  thrown  ashore  in  large  quantities 
by  the  sea.     It  is  also  called  Sea-wrack. 

Eel-spear.  A  sort  of  trident  for  catching  eels.  Called,  in  England,  an 
Eel-shear. 

To  Egg.     To  pelt  with  rotten  eggs. 

W.  S.  Bailey,  tlie  abolition  editor  of  the  Newport  (Ky,)  News,  was  egged  out  of 
Alexandria,  Campbell  county,  in  that  State,  on  Monday.  —  Bait.  Sun,  Aug.  1, 
1857. 

Elephant.  To  see  the  elephant  is  to  gain  experience  of  the  world,  gener- 
ally at  some  cost  to  the  investigator.  The  phrase  doubtless  originated 
from  some  occurrence  at  a  menagerie. 

E'en  a'most,  for  almost.     A  vulgarism. 

He  knows  the  catechism,  and  lias  got  the  whole  Bible  e'eny  most  by  heart. — Mar- 
garet, p.  113. 

The  village  boys  would  raise  a  party  of  gals,  and  start  off  early  in  the  morning 
for  Toad  Hill,  where  the  blackberries  was  e'en  a'most  as  plentiful  &s  mosquitoes  la 
these  diggings. — Lafayette  Chronicle. 

O,  't  is  a  dreadful  thing  to  be 

In  such  distress  and  misery ! 

I  'm  e'en  a'most  a  nateral  fool. 

All  on  account  o'  Sally  Poole.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers. 

Eend,  for  end.  A  vulgar  pronunciation  of  the  word,  which  is  also  common 
in  various  parts  of  England. 

Egypt.  A  nickname  given  to  southern  Illinois ;  according  to  some,  on  ac- 
count of  its  fertility ;  according  to  others,  because  of  the  mental  darkness 
of  its  inhabitants. 

To  Elect.  To  choose,  to  prefer,  to  determine  in  favor  of. — Welster. 
The  Amei'icanism  consists  in  the  construction  of  this  verb  with  a  follow- 
ing infinitive. 

In  pursuance  of  the  joint  resolution  of  congress  "for  annexing  Texas  to  the 
United  States,"  my  predecessor,  on  tlie  third  day  of  March,  1845,  elected  to  submit 
the  first  and  second  sections  of  that  resolution  to  the  republic  of  Texas,  as  an  over- 
ture, on  tlie  part  of  the  United  States,  for  her  admission  as  a  State  into  our  Union. 
This  election  I  approved.  —  Message  to  Congress,  Dec.  1,  1845. 

If  it  be  said  that  all  travellers  will  not  elect  to  go  by  the  express  train,  and  that 
there  should  be  further  time  and  gi-eater  allowance  than  five  days,  many  travellers 
will  take  other  routes,  etc.  —  Report  on  Pacijic  Railroad. 

Elegant,  for  excellent,  applied  to  articles  of  food  and  drink,  is  very  com- 
mon ;  as,  elegant  water,  elegant  beef,  elegant  butter !     See  Beautiful. 

Empire  State.  The  State  of  New  York ;  so  called  from  the  enterprise 
of  its  people,  its  wealth,  population,  extent  of  canals,  railroads,  etc. 


E  M  P  —  E  S  Q  137 

The  Empire  State  is  your  New  York  ; 

I  grant  it  hard  to  mate  her ; 
Yet  still  give  me  the  Nutmeg  State, 

Where  shall  we  find  a  greater?  — Allin,  Yankee  Ballads. 

Emptyings.  (Pron.  emptins.)  The  lees  of  beer,  cider,  etc. ;  yeast,  or 
any  thing  by  which  bread  is  leavened. 

'T  will  take  more  emptins,  by  a  long  chalk,  than  this  new  party 's  got, 
To  give  such  heavy  cakes  as  these  a  start,  I  tell  ye  what. 

The  Biglow  Papers. 

To  Engage.  To  promise  or  pledge  one's  self  to  perform  certain  duties. 
In  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  all  civil  or  military  officers,  iostead  of  being 
sworn  to  perform  the  duties  which  appertain  to  their  offices,  and  to  obey 
the  laws,  are  engaged  so  to  do. 

From  the  formation  of  this  colony  in  1647,  no  person  was  compelled  to  take  an 
oath,  for  the  reason,  probably,  that  it  involved  an  act  of  worsliip ;  nor  has  any  per- 
son since,  under  any  circumstances,  been  obliged  to  take  one.  An  affirmation,  on 
penalty  of  perjury,  has  been  received  with  as  full  effect  as  an  oath.  Persons  ap- 
pointed to  office,  were,  in  the  technical  language  of  Rhode  Island,  engaged  to  the 
faithful  performance  of  their  duties ;  and  the  appointing  power  at  the  same  time  en- 
tered into  a  reciprocal  engagement  to  the  officer,  wherein  they  engage  themselves  to 
the  utmost  of  their  power  to  support  and  uphold  the  officer  in  the  lawful  peiform- 
ance  of  his  duties.  —  Colonial  Records  of  Rhode  Island. 

Engine.  (Pron.  injine,  the  last  syllable  rhyming  with  Zme.)  A  Fire- 
engine.     See  Machine. 

Engineer.  The  engine-driver  on  our  raUroads  is  thus  magniloquently 
designated. 

To  Enjoy.  To  enjoy  had  health  is  a  whimsical  yet  by  no  means  uncom- 
mon expression. 

My  husband  enjoyed  miserable  health  for  a  number  of  years  afore  he  died. — Widow 
Bedott,  p.  143. 

Entry.  The  fee  paid  to  the  State  upon  entering  an  action  in  the  Supreme 
Court  or  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  Rhode  Island. 

Erie.  Hennepin  (eh.  xix.)  says,  "  the  Havens  called  this  Lake  Erige,  or 
Erilke,  that  is,  the  Lake  of  the  Cat;"  but  the  inhabitants  of  Canada 
have  softened  it  into  Erie.  In  ch.  Lxix.  he  again  mentions  it  as 
"  Lake  Erie,  or  of  the  Cat." 

EsQuiPO JIGGLE.  Another  name  for  Kinnickinnick,  or  a  mixture  of  tobacco 
and  cornel  bark. 

Esquire.  In  England  this  title  is  given  to  the  younger  sons  of  noblemen, 
to  officers  of  the  king's  courts  and  of  the  household,  to  counsellors  at  law, 
justices  of  the  peace  whUe  in  commission,  sheriffs,  and  other  gentlemen. 

12* 


138  EUC  — EXC 

In  the  United  States  the  title  is  given  to  public  officers  of  all  degrees, 
from  governors  down  to  justices  and  attorneys.  Indeed,  the  title,  in 
addressing  letters,  is  bestowed  on  any  person  at  pleasure,  and  contains  no 
definite  description.     It  is  merely  an  expression  of  respect.  —  Webster. 

In  our  own  dear  title-bearing,  democratic  land,  the  title  of  esquire,  officially  and 
by  courtesy,  has  come  to  include  pretty  much  everybody.  Of  course  everybody  in 
office  is  an  esquire,  and  all  who  have  been  in  office  enjoy  and  glory  in  the  title.  And 
what  with  a  standing  army  of  legislators,  an  elective  and  ever-changing  magistracy, 
and  almost  a  whole  population  of  militia  officers,  present  and  past,  all  named  as 
esquires  in  their  commissions,  the  title  is  nearly  universal.  —  N.  Y.  Com.  Advertiser. 

EuCRE.  A  sort  of  game  played  with  cards,  very  much  in  vogue  at  the 
West. 

Evening.  In  the  South  and  West  there  is  no  afternoon.  From  noon  till 
dark  is  evening.  It  is  strange  to  an  unaccustomed  ear  to  be  accosted  with 
"  Good  evening,"  at  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  day.  Where  this  usage 
prevails,  immediately  after  sunset  it  is  "  night." 

To  Eventuate.  To  happen,  to  issue,  to  take  effect.  A  word  not  unfre- 
quently  used  in  the  United  States,  but  rarely  used  by  English  writers.  — 
Worcester. 

Everglades.  Tracts  of  land  covered  with  water  and  grass ;  peculiar  to 
the  Southern  States.  In  Florida  the  term  is  applied  to  portions  of  the 
land  lower  than  the  coast,  and  but  little  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  cov- 
ered with  fresh  water.  The  islands  elevated  above  this  swamp  are  called 
'"  hummocks." 

Everlasting.     "Very;  exceedingly. 

New  York  is  an  everlasting  great  concern.  — Maj.  Downing,  May-day  in  New  York. 

Everlasting.  Life  Everlasting.  (Gnaphalium.)  So  called  from  its 
medicinal  properties  (so  the  books  say),  but  much  more  likely  from  the 
French  "  Immortelle,"  a  similar  plant,  so  named  from  the  endurance  of 
its  flowers  when  dried. 

Every  once  in  a  while.  A  singular  though  very  common  expression, 
signifying  the  same  as  every  now  and  then.     It  is  probably  English. 

Excellency.  A  title  given  by  courtesy  to  governors  of  States  and  to 
ministers  of  foreign  countries. 

Exchangeability.  The  quality  or  state  of  being  exchangeable.  —  Web- 
ster. 

The  law  ought  not  to  be  contravened  by  an  express  article  admitting  the  ex- 
changeability of  such  persons.  —  Washington. 

Excursionist.  A  person  who  goes  on  a  pleasure  trip.  A  common  news- 
paper term. 


EXE  — EYE  139 

At  a  few  minutes  past  seven  o'clock,  on  Saturday  evening,  the  steamer  Powhatan 
was  loosed  from  her  moorings,  and,  with  some  two  hundred  excursionists  on  board, 
steamed  down  the  Potomac  River.  —  Wash.  Evening  Star,  July  6,  1858. 

The  Executive.  The  officer,  whether  king,  president,  or  other  chief 
magistrate,  who  superintends  the  execution  of  the  laws ;  the  person  who 
administers  the  government ;  executive  power  and  authority  in  govern- 
ment. —  Webster. 

The  Executive  City.     Washington. 

Experience.  To  give,  tell,  or  relate  one's  experience,  are  phrases  in  use 
among  certain  sects,  and  meaning,  to  relate  before  a  meeting  of  the  church 
the  progress  of  one's  mind  in  becoming  an  ardent  believer  in  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity. 

Now  brethren  and  sisters  I  'm  going  to  give  my  experience,  —  to  tell  how  I  got 
religion.  —  Western  Pulpit, 

At  these  meetings  there  was  praying  and  exhorting,  and  telling  experiences,  and 
singing  sentimental  religious  hymns.  —  Goodrich's  Reminiscences,  Vol.  I.  p.  214. 

To  Experience  Religion.     To  become  converted. 

I  experienced  religion  at  one  of  brother  Armstrong's  protracted  meetings ;  —  and  I 
tell  ye,  them  special  efforts  is  great  things  — ever  since  I  came  out  I've  felt  like  a 
ncAV  critter.  — Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  108. 

Express.  A  rapid  conveyance  of  packages  and  goods,  which  in  the 
course  of  the  last  twenty  years  has  grown  up  into  an  enormous  business 
in  the  United  States. 

To  Express.  To  transmit  by  a  special  messenger  or  by  telegraph  in  an- 
ticipation of  the  regular  mail. 

The  President's  message  will  be  expressed  through  to  Boston,  by  order  of  the  Post- 
master-General. —  Washington  Republic. 

Express-man.  A  man  belonging  to  an  express  office  who  calls  for  and 
brings  parcels  with  a  wagon. 

Express  Office.  An  establishment  which  rapidly  transmits  parcels  and 
goods. 

Express  Wagon.  The  wagon  in  which  packages,  boxes,  etc.,  are  taken 
to  and  from  an  express  office. 

Eyes  Skinned.     To  keep  one's  eyes  shinned  is  to  be  on  the  alert. 

Keep  your  eyes  skinned  and  your  rifles  clean;  and  the  minute  you  find  I'm  back, 
set  off.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Keep  your  eye  skinned  for  sign,  and  listen  to  my  horn.  —  Traits  of  American 
Humor,  Vol.  2. 

Now,  Mr.  Arch,  I've  got  you,  and  if  you  don't  keep  your  eye  skinned,  I'll  lick 
you  till  your  hide  won't  hold  shucks,  —  Mike  Hooter,  by  a  Missourian. 


140  FAC  —  FAL 


F. 

To  Face  the  Music.  To  meet  the  emergency.  It  corresponds  to  the 
English  slang  phrase,  "  to  come  up  to  the  scratch," 

The  Worcester  Spy,  in  commenting  upon  the  commercial  failures,  says : 
Although  such  reverses  would  seem  to  fall  with  crushing  weight  upon  some  of  our 
most  substantial  citizens,  a  strong  determination  to  face  the  music  is  everywhere  man- 
ifested. —  Sept.  22,  1857. 

Factory  Cotton.     Unbleached  cotton  goods,  of  domestic  manufacture. 

Fair.  Real,  genuine  ;  as,  "  This  is  not  a  chalk  egg,  it  is  a  fair  one."  New 
York ;  a  word  mostly  used  by  children. 

Fair  Shake.  A  fair  trade  ;  a  satisfactory  bargain  or  exchange.  A  New 
England  vulgarism. 

To  Fair  off.  Fair  up.     To  clear  off,  clear  up.     South-western. 

He  quitted  the  boat  at  Natchez,  moved  to  the  North,  and  whenever  he  see  a  fog 
risin',  took  to  his  bed  and  kept  it  till  it  fair'd  off.  —  Western  Tales. 

There  's  going  to  be  a  nasty  fog  to-night,  and  you  had  best  run  the  boat  till  nine, 
and  then  tie  up  —  have  the  steam  kept  up,  and  call  me  if  it  fairs  up.  —  Major  Bunk- 
um, N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

To  Fall.  Often  improperly  used  for  fell  in  the  United  States,  and  in 
some  parts  of  England ;  as,  "  to  fall  a  tree,"  instead  of  "  to  fell  a  tree." 
—  Worcester. 

Fall.  1.  The  fall  of  the  leaf;  autumn ;  the  time  when  the  leaves  drop 
from  the  trees. 

This  beautifully  picturesque  expression,  which  corresponds  so  well  to 
its  opposite  spring,  has  been  said  to  be  peculiar  to  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Pickering  notices  the  following  remark  in  Rees's  Cyclopaedia :  "  In 
North  America,  the  season  in  which  the  fall  of  the  leaf  takes  place  de- 
rives its  name  from  that  circumstance,  and  instead  of  autumn  is  univer- 
sally called  the  fall."  —  Art.  Deciduous  Leaves.  It  is  used,  however,  in 
England  in  the  same  sense  ;  although  autumn  is  as  generally  employed 
there,  as  faU  is  in  the  United  States. 

What  crowds  of  patients  the  town  doctor  kills. 
Or  how  last  fall  he  raised  the  weekly  bills.  —  Dryden's  Juvenal. 
Hash  worked  the  farm,  burnt  coal  in  the  fall,  made  sugar  in  the  spring,  drank, 
smoked,  etc.  — Margaret,  p.  13. 

2.  The  apparatus  used  in  hoisting  and  lowering  goods  in  warehouses, 
etc.  The  term  is  borrowed  from  a  contrivance  for  the  same  ^iurpose 
used  on  shipboard. 

Fall-way.     The  opening  or  well  through  which  goods  are  raised  and  low- 


FAM  — FAR  141 

ered  by  a  fall.    It  is  often  merely  a  succession  of  openings  through  the 
..  several  floors  of  the  building,  which  are  generally  uninclosed,  and  the 
source  of  frequent  accidents. 

Family.  This  word  is  often  used  to  denote  a  man's  wife  and  children,  es- 
pecially the  latter.  Hence  the  phrases,  "  a  man  of  family"  "  have  you 
any  family  ?  "  and  in  the  "West,  "  How  is  your  father's  family  ?  " 

Family  Room.  This  term  is  applied,  in  the  West,  to  a  room  generally  oc- 
cupied by  the  mother  and  young  children  to  the  exclusion  of  visitors  and 
strangers. 

To  Fan  out.  To  make  a  show  at  an  examination,  alluding  probably  to 
the  peacock  spreading  his  tail.  This  term  originated  at  the  United  States 
Military  Academy  at  "West  Point,  where  for  years  it  was  local ;  but  it  is 
now  gradually  finding  its  way  through  the  country. 

Fancies.     Fancy  stocks,  which  see  below. 

Yesterday  was  a  blue  day  in  "Wall  street :  the  fancies  looked  down,  and  the  bears 
looked  up.  —  Stock  Report,  N.  Y.  Herald. 

Fancy  Stocks.  A  species  of  stocks  which  are  bought  and  sold  to  a  great 
extent  in  New  York.  Unhke  articles  of  merchandise,  which  may  be 
seen  and  examined  by  the  dealer,  and  which  always  have  an  intrinsic 
value  in  every  fluctuation  of  the  market,  these  stocks  are  wholly  wrapped 
.  in  mystery ;  no  one  knows  any  thing  about  them,  except  the  ofliicers  and 
directors  of  the  companies,  who,  from  theu*  position,  are  not  the  most  likely 
men  to  tell  you  the  truth.  They  serve  no  other  purpose,  therefore,  than  as 
the  representative  of  value  in  stock  gambling.  Nearly  all  the  fluctuations 
in  their  prices  are  artificial.  A  smaU  fluctuation  is  more  easily  produced 
than  a  large  one ;  and  as  the  calculations  are  made  on  the  par  value,  a 
fluctuation  of  one  per  cent,  on  stock  worth  $20  a  share,  is  just  five  times 
as  much  on  the  amount  of  money  invested  as  it  would  be  on  a  par  stock. 
Consequently,  if  a  "  Flunkie  "  can  be  drawn  in,  he  may  be  fleeced  five 
times  as  quick  in  these  as  in  good  stocks.  —  A  Week  in  Wall  Street,  p.  83. 

Fandaxgo.  (Spanish.)  A  lively  dance.  In  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and 
California,  this  term  is  applied  to  a  ball  or  dance  of  any  sort. 

Farallox.  (Spanish,  -pvon.  farayon.)  A  small  pointed  island  in  the  sea. 
The  meaning  of  this  geographical  term,  applied  to  islands  on  the  Califor- 
nia coast,  has  puzzled  many. 

Fakina.     Wheaten  grits. 

Farzino,  or  Farziner.  A  vulgar  contraction  of  far-as-I-hnow,  exten- 
sively used  through  New  England  and  New  York,  including  Long  Island. 


1^  F  A  S  —  F  E  D 

Gen.    And  what  kind  of  characters  are  the  Count  and  Countess  ? 

Doolittle.     Why,  I  han't  been  here  such  a  despud  while,  as  to  have  larat  myself 

much  about  the  matter.     But  by  hearsay,  tliey  are  a  topping  sort  of  people,  and 

•  pretty  much  like  the  Boston  folks,  full  of  notions.    At  times,  he  is  obstropulous. 

He  may  be  a  straight-going  critter,  farzino,  manwards ;  but  in  his  dealings  with 

t'  other  sex,  he  is  a  little  twistical.  —  D.  Humphreys,  Yankee  in  England. 

Fast.     That  lives  at  a  rapid  rate ;  dissipated.     A  flash  word. 

Mr.  Cephas  Bubble  is  undeniably  the  fastest  young  man  in  the  market;  for  he 's 
not  only  ashamed  of  his  parentage  and  birthplace,  but  he  is  actually  ashamed  he 
was  ever  a  boy.  — Miss  Wellmont,  Substance  and  Shade,  p.  108. 

Fast  books,  like /as<  men,  soon  exhaust  their  constitutions. — Norton's  Literary 
Gazette. 

Fat-Pork  Tree.    A  name  of  the  Coco-Plum.     Barbadoes. 

Feast.  A  corruption  of  the  Dutch  vies,  nice,  fastidious.  "  I  'm  feast  of 
it,"  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  Dutch  Ik  hen  er  vies  van,  i.  e.  I  am  dis- 
gusted with,  I  loathe  it.  A  New  York  phrase,  mostly  confined  to  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Dutch. 

To  Feather.  A  friend  has  reminded  me  of  this  colloquial  word,  which 
is  used  in  some  parts  of  New  England  to  denote  the  appearance  of  cur- 
dled cream,  when  it  rises  upon  the  surface  of  a  cup  of  tea  or  coffee,  in  the 
form  of  little  flakes,  somewhat  resembling  feathers.  We  say,  "  The  cream 
feathers."  —  Pickering. 

Federal.  Founded  upon  or  formed  by  a  league,  treaty,  or  compact,  be- 
tween independent  States.  The  government  of  the  United  States  is  a 
federal  government,  as  being  formed  by  the  union  of  several  independent 
States,  each  surrendering  a  portion  of  its  power  to  the  central  authority. 
A  federal  is  strictly  distinguishable  from  a  national  government  (though 
in  the  United  States  the  terms  are  often  used  indiscriminately),  the  latter 
being  properly  an  aggregation  of  individual  citizens.  The  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  is  pronounced  by  Mr.  Madison  to  be  neither  a  na- 
tional nor  a  federal  constitution,  but  a  composition  of  both.  —  Federalist, 
No.  39. 

Federal  City.     Washington,  as  the  seat  of  government. 

Federal  Currency.  The  legal  currency  of  the  United  States.  Its 
coins  are  the  gold  eagle  of  ten  dollars ;  the  double  eagle,  twenty  dollars  ; 
half  and  quarter  eagles  of  proportionate  value.  The  silver  dollar  of  one 
hundred  cents,  its  half,  quarter,  tenth,  and  twentieth  parts.  The  coin  of 
ten  cents  value  is  called  a  dime  ;  that  of  five  cents,  a  half-dime.  The  low- 
est coin  in  common  use  was  the  copper,  now  supplanted  by  the  nickel  cent. 
Half-cent  coins  have  been  made,  but  few  or  none  of  late  years.  In  the 
commercial  cities  and  along  the  sea-board,  Spanish  coins  of  a  dollar  and 


FED  143 

the  fractional  parts  of  a  dollar  were  very  common,  and  passed  currently 
for  their  original  value,  until  the  act  of  February  21,  1857,  which,  by 
reducing  the  value  of  the  quarter,  eighth,  and  sixteenth  of  a  dollar  by 
twenty  per  cent.,  caused  the  foreign  coinage  to  be  suddenly  withdrawn 
from  the  currency. 

Previous  to  the  adoption  of  our  federal  currency,  pounds,  shillings, 
and  pence  were  used.  But  these  denominations  became  unstable  in  value, 
in  consequence  of  the  great  depreciation  which  took  place  in  the  paper- 
money  issued  by  the  colonies. 

In  the  year  1702,  exchange  on  England  was  33^  per  cent,  above  par ; 
and  silver  and  gold  bore  the  same  relative  value  to  paper-money.  The 
depreciation  in  the  latter  continued  to  increase  until,  in  the  year  1749, 
£1,100  currency  was  only  equal  to  £100  sterling,  or  eleven  for  one.  In 
1750,  a  stop  was  put  to  the  further  depreciation  of  the  money  of  the 
province  of  Massachusetts  by  a  remittance  from  England  of  £183,000 
sterhng,  in  Spanish  dollars,  to  reimburse  the  expense  the  province  had 
been  at  in  the  reduction  of  Cape  Breton  in  the  old  French  war.  The 
depreciated  money  was  then  called  in,  and  paid  off  at  the  rate  of  a  Span- 
ish dollar  for  forty-five  shillings  of  the  paper  currency.  At  the  same 
time  a  law  was  made  fixing  the  par  of  exchange  between  England  and 
Massachusetts  at  £133^  currency  for  £100  sterling,  and  six  shillings  to 
the  Spanish  dollar. 

The  difference  of  exchange,  or  depreciation  of  the  paper-money,  regu- 
lated in  the  same  manner  the  currencies  of  the  other  colonies.  Through- 
out New  England,  as  has  been  before  stated,  it  was  six  shillings  to  the 
dollar  of  4s.  6c?.  sterling.  In  New  York,  eight  shillings,  or  about  seventy- 
five  per  cent,  depreciation.  Pennsylvania,  7s.  6(?.,  or  about  sixty-six  per 
cent,  depreciation.  In  some  of  the  Southern  States  it  was  4s.  6c?.  to  the 
dollar,  and  accordingly  no  depreciation.  In  Halifax  currency,  including 
the  present  British  provinces,  it  was  five  shillings  to  the  dollar,  or  about 
eleven  per  cent.,  etc.  etc. 

In  consequence  of  the  above-named  diversity  in  the  colonial  currencies, 
in  New  England  the  Spanish  real  of  one  eighth  of  a  dollar,  or  12^  cents, 
is  called  a  ninepence  ;  in  New  York,  a  shilling  ;  in  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
land, and  Vh'ginia,  elevenpence  or  a  levy  ;  and  in  many  of  the  Southern 
States,  a  hit.  The  half  real,  of  the  value  of  one  sixteenth  of  a  dollar,  is 
called  in  New  York  a  sixpence  ;  in  New  England,  ybwrjoence  hcC fenny,  or 
simply  fourpence  ;  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia,  a  Jip  ;  and 
in  Louisiana,  a.  picayune.  The  disappearance  of  the  coins  from  circula- 
tion will  probably  soon  cause  these  names  to  fall  likewise  into  disuse. 

Federalists.     An  appellation  in  America  given  to  the  friends  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  at  its  formation  and  adoption  ;  and  to  the 


144  FED  — FEL 

political  party  whicli  favored  the  administration  of  President  Washing- 
ton. —  Webster. 

To  Federalize.  To  unite  in  compact,  as  different  States  ;  to  confederate 
for  political  purposes.  —  Webster. 

Feed.     Used  as  a  noun,  for  grass  ;  as,  "tail  feed,"  i.  e.  high  grass. 

To  Feel.  To  feel  to  do  a  thing  is  an  expression  commonly  used  by  some 
clergymen,  for  to  feel  inclined,  to  be  disposed  to  do  it. 

Feet.  There  are  people  who  consider  it  witty  to  use  this  plural  instead  of 
its  singular  foot. 

When  I  was  a  feet  high,  I  was  my  mammy's  joy, 
Tlie  ladies  all  caressed  me,  and  called  me  pretty  boy. 
They  said  I  was  a  beauty,  my  face  it  was  complete, 
Except  this  tarnal  ugly  nose,  but  it  stuck  out  a  feet. 

Western  Melodies. 

Feeze.     "  To  be  in  a  feeze"  is  to  be  in  a  state  of  excitement. 

Larcenie  is  the  felonious  taking  away  of  another  man's  personal  goods  without  his 
knowledge  or  insight,  yet  without  making  any  assault  upon  his  person  or  putting 
him  into  a  /ease.  —  Code  of  Laws  of  IViode  Island,  1647. 

Some  years  ago,  we  remember.  New  York  was  in  its  annual  feeze  about  mad  dogs, 
and  the  public  mind  was  somewhat  exercised  touching  the  best  method  of  doing 
murder  upon  the  unhappy  canines.  — N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser,  Oct.  16,  1848. 

When  a  man 's  in  a  feeze,  there  's  no  more  sleep  that  hitch.  —  Sam  Slick  in  Eng- 
land, ch.  2. 

Fellow  or  Black  Fellow.     A  black  man.     Southern. 

Fellow-Countryman.  One  belonging  to  the  same  country,  a  compatriot. 
This  has  been  censured  as  an  American  pleonasm,  like  play-actor,  inas- 
much as  good  English  usage  has  conferred  this  meaning  on  the  word 
countryman  alone.  (See  Pickering,  suh  voce.)  Still  the  want  of  a  more 
definite,  expression  has  been  felt  in  England  as  well  as  in  this  country  ; 
and  the  iavm.  fellow-countryman,  as  distinguished  from  countryman,  rustic, 
as  the  French  compatriote  and  German  landsmami  are  distinguished  from 
paysan  and  landmann,  has  long  been  used  in  America,  and  in  England 
has  been  adopted  and  sanctioned  by  such  authorities  as  Southey  and  Lord 
Brougham. 

Fellowship.  Companionship;  consort;  society.  —  Johnson.  With  us  it 
is  often  used  in  religious  writings  and  discourses,  instead  of  the  word  com- 
munion, to  denote  "  mutual  intercourse  or  union  in  religious  worship,  or 
in  doctrine  and  discipline." 

To  Fellowship.  A  verb  formed  from  the  preceding  noun.  To  fellow- 
ship with  is  to  hold  communion  with;  to  unite  with  in  doctrine  and 


F  E  M  —  F  E  N  145 

discipline.  This  barbarism  appears  with,  disgusting  frequency  in  the 
reports  of  ecclesiastical  conventions,  etc.,  and  in  the  religious  newspapers 
generally.  JVIr,  Pickering,  in  the  Supplement  to  his  Vocabulary,  said  he 
had  just  become  acquainted  with  the  word.  The  following  is  the  first  ex- 
ample which  he  gives : 

We  considered  him  lieretical,  essentially  unsound  in  the  faith ;  and  on  this  ground 

refused  to  fellowship  with  him.  — Address  to  the  Christian  Public,  Greerifield,  1813. 
If  the  Christian  Alliance  could  not  fellowship  with  the  Southern  slaveholders  for 

gain,  they  ought  to  say  so  outright.  — Speech  at  the  Christian  Alliance  Conference, 

May  8,  1847.   . 

It  is  also  used  actively  without  the  preposition,  as  in  the  following  ex- 
amples : 

How  can  we  expect  the  fellowsliip  of  the  preachers  of  the  reformation  ?  I  do  not 
expect  it,  because  our  fellowship  was  predicated  upon  a  vain  uniformity  of  belief. 
If  it  were,  I  could  never  have  fellowshipped  them  1  — Rev.  J.  B.  Ferguson's  Discourse. 

We  therefore  fellowship  him  in  taking  a  course  of  preparatory  studies  for  the 
Christian  ministry.  — Board  of  Madison  University,  New  York,  Jan.  1,  1840. 

Female.  A  person  of  the  female  sex,  a  woman  or  girl.  There  has  been 
much  said  of  the  use  and  abuse  of  this  word,  and  whether  it  is  proper  to 
designate  women  by  it.  Doctor  Johnson  thus  defines  female :  "  A  she ; 
one  of  the  sex  that  brings  forth  young."  Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Hale,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  word,  has  the  following  remarks  (we  do  not  indorse  her  gram- 
matical criticism)  :  "  "Where  used  to  discriminate  between  the  sexes,  the 
word  female  is  an  adjective.  We  do  not  object  to  the  term  when  used 
necessarily,  as  an  adjective ;  but  many  writers  employ  the  word  as  a  noun^ 
which,  when  applied  to  woman,  is  improper,  and  sounds  unpleasantly,  as 
referring  to  an  animal.  To  illustrate :  almost  every  newspaper  we  open, 
or  book  we  read,  will  have  sentences  like  these :  '  A  man  and  two  females 
were  seen,  etc.,'  '  A  gentleman  was  walking  with  a  female  companion,' 
*  The  females  were  much  alarmed,'  '  A  female  child,'  etc.  Now  why 
is  such  a  style  of  writing  tolerated  ?  Why  is  the  adjective,  which  apphes 
to  all  female  animals,  used  as  the  noun  designating  woman  ?  It  is  inele- 
gant as  well  as  absurd.  Expressed  correctly,  thus,  'A  man  and  two 
women,'  etc.,  *  A  gentleman  and  a  lady,'  '  The  women  were  alarmed,' 
'  A  little  girl.'  Who  does  not  see  and  feel  that  these  last  sentences  are 
in  better  taste,  moi'e  correct  in  language,  and  more  definite  in  meaning  ? 
We  call  on  our  sex,  on  women,  to  use  pen  and  voice  to  correct  the  error 
of  language  which  degrades  them  by  the  animal  epithet  only." 

In  the  House  of  Delegates  in  Maryland,  in  a  debate  "  on  the  passage  of  the  bill 
to  protect  the  reputation  of  unmamedyema/es,"  the  title  was  amended  by  striking^out 
the  word  "females,"  and  inserting  "  women,"  as  the  word  "female "  was  an 
Americanism  in  that  application.  — Baltimore  Patriot,  March,  1839. 

Fen.    a  prohibitory  exclamation  used  by  boys  in  their  games ;  as,  ^^Fen 

13 


146  FEN  — FID 

play!"  i.  e.  I  forbid  you  to  play,  stop!     Compare  the  Latin  defendo, 
French  defendse. 

Fence.  1.  In  politics,  "  to  be  on  the  fence  "  is  to  be  neutral,  or  to  be 
ready  to  join  the  strongest  party,  whenever  it  can  be  ascertained  which 

is  so. 

When  every  fool  knows  that  a  man  represents, 

Not  the  fellows  that  sent  him,  but  them  on  the  fence, 

Impartially  ready  to  jump  either  side, 

And  make  the  first  use  of  a  turn  of  the  tide.  —  Biglow  Papers. 

2.  A  house  where  stolen  goods  are  received. 

Fence-Man.    A  politician  who  is  "  on  the  fence." 

All  the  fence-men,  all  the  doubters,  all  the  seekers  after  majorities,  will  now  bustle 
up,  come  out,  and  declare  that  General  Taylor  is  the  most  popular  man  in  the  coun- 
try, and  that  he  was  always  their  first  choice.  — N.  Y.  Herald,  Oct.  14,  1848. 

Fence-Riding.  The  practice  of  "  sitting  on  the  fence,"  or  remaining  neu- 
tral in  a  pohtical  contest  until  it  can  be  seen  "  which  way  the  cat  is  going 
to  jump." 

The  South  will  not  vote  for  a  Northern  candidate  who  is  nominated  as  such,  nor 
the  North  for  a  Southern  man  who  is  nominated  on  exclusive  Southern  principles. 
In  this  matter  there  can  be  no  neutral  ground.  The  dividing  line  is  narrow,  but 
distinct;  it  admits  oi  no  fence-riding ;  the  candidate  must  be  on  one  side  or  the 
other ;  and  when  the  time  shall  come,  that  either  the  North  or  the  South  adopts  a 
candidate  on  sectional  grounds,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  foretell  the  issue.  — N.  Y. 
Mirror. 

Ferry-Flat.  A  flat  boat  used  for  crossing,  and  sometimes  for  descending, 
the  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries.  Flint  says :  "  The  ferry-flat  is 
a  scow-boat,  and,  when  used  as  a  boat  of  descent  for  families,  has  a  roof 
or  covering.  These  are  sometimes  in  the  vernacular  phrase  called  sleds." 
—  Hist,  and  Geog.  of  Miss.  Valley. 

Fetticus  or  Vettikost,  vulg.  Fattikows.  {Valerianella.)  Com- 
ealad,  or  Lamb's-lettuce.    A  word  used  in  New  York. 

To  Fetch  up.  To  stop  suddenly.  This  sense  of  the  word  is  not  noticed 
in  the  English  dictionaries,  nor  by  "Webster.  We  often  hear  the  phrase, 
"  He  fetched  up  all  standing,"  that  is,  he  made  a  sudden  halt.  It  is  a 
nautical  vulgarism,  the  figure  being  that  of  a  ship  which  is  suddenly 
brought  to,  wlule  at  full  speed  and  with  all  her  sails  set. 

Few.     Used  as  a  slang  term,  a  few  means  a  little. 

"  I  say,  stranger,  tell  me  about  the  trick  of  the  wells'  blowing  up ;  and  I  '11  tell  you 
the  trick  of  the  gun,  which  rather  skeared  you  a  few,  as  I  think."  —  Hoffman,  Forest 
Scenes. 

Fid  OP  Tobacco.  A  quid  of  tobacco.  According  to  Halliwell,  the  word 
Jid  is  used  in  the  South  of  England  to  signify  a  email,  thick  lump. 


FID  — FIL  UT 

Fiddler.  A  kind  of  small  crab,  with  one  large  claw  and  a  very  small  one. 
It  lives  on  the  salt  meadows,  where  it  makes  its  burrows. 

Fidlars  are  a  sort  of  small  crabs,  that  lie  in  holes  in  the  marshes.  The  raccoons 
eat  them  very  much.  I  never  knew  any  one  to  try  whether  they  were  good  meat  or 
no. — Lawson's  Carolina,  1718. 

Field-driver.  A  civil  officer,  whose  duty  it  is  to  take  up  and  impound 
swine,  cattle,  sheep,  horses,  etc.  going  at  large  in  the  public  highways,  or 
on  common  and  unimproved  lands,  and  not  under  the  charge  of  a  keeper. 
New  England. 

Field  Martin.    A  name  sometimes  given  in  the  South  to  the  King-Bird. 

Field  Notes.  The  notes  and  memoranda  made  by  a  surveyor  or  engi- 
neer in  the  field. 

File.     A  cloth  used  for  wiping  a  floor  after  scrubbing. 

File-Pail,  or  Filing-Pail.     A  wash-pail. 

FiLLiBUSTER.  (Spanish,  JiUbustero.)  A  freebooter.  A  word  brought  in- 
to common  use  in  consequence  of  the  expeditions  against  Cuba  under 
Lopez  in  the  year  1851,  to  the  members  of  which  expedition  it  was  ap- 
plied. It  is  from  the  Spanish  Jilihustero,  which,  hke  the  French  Jlibus- 
tier,  is  itself  a  corruption  of  the  English  yreeJoo^e?*,  German  freiheuter,  a 
term  imported  into  England  during  the  Low  Country  wars  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  time,  and  pretty  generally  applied  to  the  Buccaneers  who  rav- 
aged Spanish  America  about  1680-90.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to 
deduce  the  etymology  of  the  word  from  the  Low  Dutch  vlie-boot,  i.  e. 
Jly-boat,  a  sort  of  Dutch  clipper. 

Our  modem  JiUibusters  are  the  scum  of  our  society,  not  men  whom  "  quick  bos- 
oms "  drive  upon  desperate  adventures ;  but  men  whom  rascality  has  outlawed, 
men  whom  society,  instead  of  sending  forth  with  blessings,  kicks  out  with  contempt. 
Broken  down  gamblers,  drunken  lawyers,  unsuccessful  publicans,  dissipated  shoe- 
makers, detested  swindlers,  men  under  whose  feet  every  plank  has  broken,  are  those 
who  now-a-days  assume  the  beai-ing,  and  attempt  to  walk  in  the  footsteps,  of  Cortez 
or  of  Clive. — N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

To  FiLLiBUSTER.     To  acquire  by  freebooting. 

"  What  was  Moses  but  a  fillibuster,  whose  mission  was  to  dispossess  tribes  retro- 
grading (or  whose  civilization  was  corrupting  before  matured),  and  to  plant  in  their 
stead  another  people,  whose  subsequent  annals  show  them  to  have  been  at  least  in  no 
wise  superior  to  our  own  1  AVhat  were  the  Nonnans,  from  whom  the  sovereigns  of 
Great  Britain  affect  to  derive  their  descent,  and  a  portion  of  their  title  to  the  crown, 
but  fillibusters  ?  What  the  Pilgrim  Fathers'  but  fiUibusters  ?  What  State,  what 
territory  in  this  Union  has  not  been  Jillibustered  from  the  Indians,  or  purchased  from 
those  who  had  Jillibustered  it  ?  Have  ever  five  years  elapsed  down  to  the  present 
time  since  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  that  some  of  the  monarchies  of  Europe 
have  not,  somewhere,  been  JUlibustering  something  ?  " — Letter  of  Gen.  Henningsen  to 
Senator  Toombs,  1857. 


148  FIL  — FIP 

FiLLiBUSTEEiNa,  FiLLiBUSTERisM.     Freebooting,  freebootery. 

The  history  of  British  India  is  but  one  vast  scheme  of  Jillibustering.  Alexander 
the  Great  was  a  fillibustcr ;  so  was  Caisar,  and  so  Napoleon.  Nicholas  in  liis  day  is 
a  fillibuster,  and  so  was  Charles  the  XII.  Cortez  was  a  fillibuster,  and  every  foot  of 
Spanish  dominion  in  America  was  acquired  by  filUbustering  alone.  Every  foot  of 
Mexican  soil  is  now  under  the  dominion,  language,  laws,  usages,  and  liturgy  of  filli- 
busterism.  —  California  Pioneer,  Jan.  1854. 

Colonel  H.  P.  Watkins  was  convicted,  March  24,  1854,  in  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Court,  of  setting  on  foot  a  military  expedition  against  the  republic  of  Mexico 
—  in  other  words,  of  Jillibusterism.  — Annals  of  San  Francisco,  p.  525. 

FiLLiPEEN  or  PiiiLLiPiNA.  (German,  Vielliebchen.)  There  is  a  custom, 
common  in  the  Northern  States  at  dinner  or  evening  parties  when  almonds 
or  other  nuts  are  eaten,  to  reserve  such  as  are  double  or  contain  two  ker-. 
nels,  which  are  called  JiUipeens.  If  found  by  a  lady,  she  gives  one  of 
the  kernels  to  a  gentleman,  when  both  eat  their  respective  kernels.  When 
the  parties  again  meet,  each  strives  to  be  the  first  to  exclaim,  Fillipeen  ! 
for  by  so  doing  he  or  she  is  entitled  to  a  present  from  the  other.  Often- 
times the  most  ingenious  methods  are  resorted  to  by  both  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen to  surprise  each  other  with  the  sudden  exclamation  of  this  myste- 
rious word,  which  is  to  bring  forth  a  forfeit. 

In  a  book  on  German  hfe  and  manners,  entitled  "  A  Bout  with  the 
Burschens,  or  Heidelberg  in  1844,"  is  an  account  of  the  existence  of  this 
custom  in  Germany,  which  at  the  same  time  furnishes  us  with  the  ety- 
mology of  the  word : 

Amongst  the  queer  customs  and  habits  of  Germany,  there  is  one  which  struck  me 
as  being  particularly  original,  and  which  I  should  recommend  to  the  consideration  of 
turf-men  in  England ;  who  might,  perhaps,  find  it  nearly  as  good  a  way  of  getting 
rid  of  their  spare  cash  as  backing  horses  that  have  been  made  safe  to  lose,  and  prize 
fighters  who  have  never  intended  to  fight.  It  is  a  species  of  betting,  and  is  accom- 
plished thus  :  Each  of  two  persons  eats  one  of  tlie  kernels  of  a  nut  or  almond  which 
is  double.  The  first  of  the  two  who,  after  so  doing,  takes  any  thing  from  the  hand 
of  the  other,  without  saying  Ich  denhe,  "1  think,"  has  to  make  the  other  a  present, 
of  a  value  which  is  sometimes  previously  determined,  and  sometimes  left  to  the  gen- 
erosity of  the  loser.  The  presents  are  called  Vielliebchens,  and  are  usually  tiifles  of 
a  few  florins'  value ;  a  pipe,  riding-whip,  or  such  like. 

.Fills.     A  common  mispronunciation  for  thills,  the  shafts  of  a  wagon  or 
chaise. 

FiNEFiED.     Made  fine  ;  dandified. 

If  this  new  judge  is  the  slicked  up,  jinefied  sort  of  a  character  they  pietur'  him,  I 
don't  want  to  see  him.  — llohh.  Squatter  Life,  p.  73. 

FiPPENNY  Bit,  or  contracted,  FiP.  Fivepence.  In  Pennsylvania,  and 
several  of  the  Southern  States,  the  vulgar  name  for  the  Spanish  half-real. 
(See  Federal  Currency.)  Fippence,  for  fivepence,  is  also  provincial  in 
England. 


FIR— FIR    •  U9 

To  Fire.     To  fling  with  the  hand,  as  a  stone  or  other  missile. 

To  FiBE  AWAY.  To  begin  ;  to  go  on.  An  expression  borrowed  from  the 
language  of  soldiers  and  sailors. 

The  Chairman  rose  and  said  :  "  We  are  not  ready  yet,  we  must  go  on  in  ordOT." 
Calls  for  Mr.  H .  Mr.  H from  the  midst  of  the  audience  said,  "  Gentle- 
men, I  beg  to  be  excused,  I  came  here  to  listen,  not  to  speak."  Loud  cries  of  "  Go 
ahead!  "  "  Out  with  it !  "  "Fire  away  I"  Whereupon  he  commenced.  —  N.  Y.  Her- 
ald, Sketch  of  a  Political  Meeting. 

To  Fire  ixto  the  wrono  Flock  is  a  metaphorical  expression  used  at 
the  West,  denoting  that  one  has  mistaken  his  object,  as  when  a  sportsman 
fires  at  a  different  flock  fz-om  what  he  intended ;  it  is  synonymous  with 
"  To  bark  up  the  wrong  tree." 

I  said,  when  General  J cocked  his  gun  and  began  his  war  upon  tlie  Senate,  he 

would  find  he  had  Jired  into  the  wrong  Jiock.  —  Crockett's  Speech,  Tour,  p.  81. 

I  will  make  that  goney  a  caution  to  sinners  I  know.  He  has  fired  into  the  wrong 
flock  this  time.  I  '11  teach  him  not  to  do  it  again.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature, 
p.  107. 

Fire-Eaters.  a  name  given  by  their  political  opponents  to  the  advocates 
of  extreme  Southern  views.     Of  recent  introduction. 

The  fire-eaters  in  the  territory  and  the  fire-eaters  outside  do  not  at  all  agree  in  their 
Views  of  what  is  proper  to  be  done  in  reference  to  voting  on  the  constitution.  —  Le- 
compton  (Kansas)  Democrat,  Nov.  1857. 

The  fire-eaters  are  making  a  very  "  big  boo  for  a  little  goose."  There  is  no 
strength  whatever  out  of  the  Gulf  States ;  and  although  they  keep  Walker  very  close 
in  Ids  room,  he  is  seen  and  known  enough  to  make  all  efforts  to  elevate  him  even  to 
the  rank  of  a  bold  pirate  ridiculous.  — N.  Y.  Evening  Post,  1857. 

Fire-hunt.  A  hunt  for  game  in  the  night  with  the  aid  of  a  long-handled 
pan  containing  light  wood  or  pitch-pine  knots  ignited.  This  is  carried  on 
the  shoulder  of  the  hunter  until  he  sees  the  eyes  of  the  animal  of  which 
he  is  in  pursuit. 

The  fire-hunt  was  Sam's  hobby.  He  had  often  urged  me  to  accompany  him,  just 
to  see  how  slick  he  could  shine  a  buck's  eyes,  and  had  drawn  from  me  a  promise 
to  go  with  him  on  some  of  these  hunts.  — •  Traits  of  American  Humor,  Vol.  II.  p. 
171. 

Fire-new.  New  from  the  forge ;  brand-new.  —  Johnson.  This  old  and 
nearly  obsolete  expression  is  sometimes  used  by  us. 

You  should  then  have  accosted  her ;  and  with  some  excellent  jests,  fire-new  from 
the  mint,  you  should  have  banged  the  youth  into  darkness. — Shakspeare,  Twelfth 
Night,  III.  2. 

The  democracy  of  Washington,  both  in  and  out  of  Congress,  huzzaed,  sang, 
flaunted  torches,  held  mass-meetings,  to  exult  over  the  Uberation  of  the  French ;  but 
when  the  liberation  of  Americans  from  a  much  severer  and  more  abject  bondage  came 
under  consideration,  they  were  and  are  ferocious  for  the  punishment,  by  law  or  Tio- 

13* 


150  FIR  — FIR 

lence,  not  of  the  enslavers,  but  of  the  liberators  !    Instantly  they  are  seized  •with  a 
Jire-new  reverence  for  the  constitution  and  laws  !  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  April  25,  1848. 

FiBE-wATER.  The  name  given  by  some  of  the  Indian  tribes  to  ardent 
spirits. 

Magua's  Canada  fathers  came  into  the  woods,  and  taught  him  to  drink  Jire-water, 
and  he  became  a  rascal.  —  Cooper,  The  Last  of  the  Alohicans,  p.  146. 

The  Taos  whiskey,  a  raw,  fiery  spirit,  has  a  ready  market  among  the  trappers  and 
Indian  traders,  who  find  the  Jire-water  the  most  profitable  article  of  trade  with  the 
aborigines.  — Ruxton's  Adventures  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  200. 

First.  One,  single.  An  absurd  use  of  the  word,  which  has  recently  crept 
into  the  newspapers  and  public  speeches  from  the  colloquial  language  of^ 
the  "West.  "  I  won't  pay  you  the  Jirst  red  cent,"  i.  e.  I  wiU  not  pay  you 
a  single  cent. 

And  here  was  I,  who  had  been  half  tempted  to  fret  because  a  stream  of  water 
leaking  through  the  top  of  the  coacli  could  n't  alight  anywhere  else  but  on  my  knees, 
which  I  could  n't  move  the  first  inch,  absurdly  fancying  that  but  for  that  I  might 
have  slept.  —Letter  in  N.  Y.  Tribune,  May  23,  1849. 

Think  liow  many  of  the  young  mechanics  of  New  York  who  are  earning  their  ten 
or  twelve  dollars  per  week,  do  not  save  the  first  cent  from  one  year's  end  to  the  other, 
but  squander  all  they  ought  to  lay  up  in  dissipation. — Ibid.,  Aug.  20, 1849. 

I  am  not  aware  of  having  committed  the  first  act  which  should  bring  upon  me  the 
displeasure  of  the  house  or  any  of  its  members.  — W.  A.  Gilbert's  Speech  in  House 
of  Representatives,  Feb.  27,  1857. 

First  Class.  A  man  in  England  possesses  notable  capacity,  and  people 
style  him  capable,  or  able,  or  great.  In  Canada,  he  is  designated  first 
class.  To  speak  of  a  first  class  carriage,  or  a  first  class  prize,  or  even  a 
first  class  prize  ox,  may  be  right  enough  ;  but  why  apply  phrases  with 
such  poor  associations  to  men  of  splendid  intellect  ?  Is  it  not  enough  that 
a  man  be  great  ?  Will  he  seem  any  greater  when  iudissolubly  associated 
with  a  railway  van?  —  Hev.  A.  C  Geikie,  in  Canadian  Journal,  Sept. 
1857. 

First  Rate.  Of  the  first  class  or  order ;  superior ;  superexcellent.  An 
expression  now  in  very  common  use,  applied,  as  most  superlatives  are  in 
the  United  States,  with  very  little  discrimination.  It  was  formerly  said 
of  large  and  important  things,  as  "  a  first  rate  ship."  Now  we  hear  of 
^^ first  rate  pigs,"  ^^ first  rate  liquors,"  ^^ first  rate  lawyers." 

The  first  rate  importance  of  the  subject,  and  the  real  merits  of  the  work,  are  de- 
serving of  a  portion  of  our  space. — Westminster  Review,  July,  1847. 

A  young  woman  wants  a  situation  as  a  chambermaid.  She  is  a  first  rate  washer 
and  ironei',  and  plain  sewer.  — Advertisement  in  New  York  Tribune. 

It  is  also  used  adverbially ;  thus,  if  we  ask  a  person  how  he  is,  he  re- 
plies, " I  am  first  rate"  i.  e.  in  excellent  health,  very  well. 


FIR  — FIX  151 

Mr.  Borthwick  found  the  California  Indians  had  acquired  this  use  of 
the  phrase  ;  for,  says  he  : 

When  you  salute  them  with  "  How  d'  ye  do,"  or  if  you  really  want  to  know  the 
state  of  their  health,  they  invariably  answer  fuss-rate.  So  having  ascertained  that 
they  were  all  fuss-rate,  I  made  inquiries  as  to  my  way.  —  Three  Years  in  California, 
p.  211. 

Well,  there 's  some  men  whose  natural  smartness  helps  them  along  ^rs<  raie. — 
Major  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  31. 

Mary  liked  all  the  speakers  first  rate,  except  one  feller  who  gin  the  gaUs  all  sorts 
of  a  shakin.  — Ibid.  p.  168. 

The  London  Illustrated  News,  in  speaking  of  Assheton  Smith,  a  cele- 
brated huntsman,  says : 

In  his  Leicestershire  days  he  was  first  rate  as  a  horseman and  in  one  of  the 

worst  scenting  countries,  he  has  for  years  shown  the  first  rate  sport.  —  Dec.  6,  1856. 

First  SVathe.     First  quality ;  first  chop.     New  York. 

Nothing  '11  serve  you  but  a  first-swathe  mug,  about  twenty-three  years  old.  —  C. 
Mathews,  Puffer  Hopkins. 

Fish   Flake.    A  frame  covered  with  fagots,  for  the  purpose  of  drying 
fish.     New  England.     See  Flakes. 

Fishing-Frog.     See  Devil-Fish. 

FiSTE  (^  as  in  mice),     A  small  dog,  a  puppy.     Pennsylvania. 

Fits.     "  To  give  one  fits"  means,  by  a  vulgar  hyperbole,  to  give  one  such 
a  punishing  as  to  throw  him  into  fits,  to  punish  him  very  severely. 

Mose.  Now  look  a  here,  Liz  —  I  go  in  for  Bill  Sykes,  cause  he  runs  wid  our  ma- 
chine ;  but  he  must  n't  come  foolin'  round  my  gal,  or  I  '11  give  him  fits.  —  A  Glance 
at  New  York. 

Ald.  Yoorhies.  —  Go  on,  Mr.  Jones. 

Witness.  —  He  said  that  the  Atlas  was  coming  out,  to  ^/ye  Mayor  Wood  and 
myself  "fits." 

Ald.  Ely.  —  Was  he  to  give  any  thing  else  ? 

Witness.  —  Yes,  he  said  he  was  going  to  "  give  us  Jessie."  —  New  York  City 
Council  Debates. 

Sometimes  additional  force  is  given  to  this  epithet  by  threatening  to 
"  give  particular  fits"  as  in  the  following  example  : 

Lady  Bulwer  has  just  published  a  new  novel,  called  "  Very  Successful,"  in  which 
rumor  reports  that  Sir  Edward  is  to  get  particular  fits,  —  New  York  Times. 

Fix.     a  condition ;  predicament ;  dilemma. 

Some  feller  jest  come  and  tuck  my  bundle  and  the  jug  of  spirits,  and  left  me  in 
this  here  fix.  —  Chron.  of  Pineville,  p.  47. 

Are  you  drunk  too  1  Well,  I  never  did  see  you  in  that  fix  in  all  my  live-long 
bom  days.  —  Georgia  Scenes,  p.  163. 

The  gentleman  must  be  stronger  in  the  faith  than  ourselves,  if  he  does  not  find 
himself  in  an  awkwai'd  fix,  —  N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser,  Oct.  18,  1845. 


152  FIX— FIX 

To  Fix.  In  popular  use,  to  put  in  order ;  to  prepare ;  to  adjust ;  to  set  or 
place  in  the  manner  desired  or  most  suitable.  Mr.  LyeU,  in  his  Travels 
in  North  America,  chap,  iii.,  has  the  following  remarks  on  this  word : 

At  one  of  the  stations  where  the  train  stopped,  we  heard  some  young  woman  from 
Oliio  exclaim,  "  "Well,  we  are  in  a  pretty  fix  I "  and  found  their  dilemma  to  be  char- 
acteristic of  the  financial  crisis  of  these  times,  for  none  of  their  dollar  notes  of  the 
Ohio  banks  would  pass  here.  The  substantive  "fix  "  is  an  acknowledged  vulgar- 
ism ;  but  the  verb  is  used  in  New  England  by  well-educated  people,  in  the  sense  of 
the  French  "  arranger,"  or  the  English  "  do."  To  fix  the  hair,  the  table,  the  fire, 
means  to  dress  the  hair,  lay  the  table,  and  make  up  the  fire ;  and  this  application  is, 
I  presume,  of  Hibernian  origin,  as  an  Irish  gentleman,  Kng  Comey,  in  Miss  Edge- 
worth's  tale  of  Ormond,  says,  "  I  '11  fix  him  and  his  wounds." 

This  word  is  equally  common  in  Upper  Canada,  where  it  was  probably 
introduced  by  American  settlers  : 

One  of  their  most  remarkable  terms  is  to  fix.  Whatever  work  requires  to  be  done 
must  be  fixed.  "  Fix  the  room  "  is  to  set  it  in  order.  "  Fix  the  table,"  "  Fix  the 
fire,"  says  the  mistress  to  her  servants ;  and  the  tilings  ai-e  fixed  accordingly.  — 
Backwoods  of  Canada,  p.  82. 

To  Fix  it.  A  vulgarism  of  recent  origin,  but  now  very  common.  It  is 
heard  in  such  phrases  as,  "  I  will  not  do  so  and  so,  any  how  you  can  fix 
it"  or  still  worse,  "  no  how  you  can  fix  it"  i.  e.  not  in  any  way  that  you 
can  arrange  it ;  not  by  any  means. 

A  wet  day  is  considerable  tiresome,  any  way  you  can  fix  it.  —  Sam  Slick  in  Eng- 
land, ch.  2. 

If  I  was  an  engineer,  I  'd  clap  on  steam  —  I  'd  fire  up,  I  tell  you ;  you  would  n't 
get  me  to  stop  the  engine,  no  way  you  could  fix  it.  —  Pickings  from  the  Picayune. 

The  master  called  them  up,  and  axed  them  the  hardest  questions  he  could  find  in 
the  book ;  but  he  could  n't  stump  'em  no  how  he  could  fix  it.  —  Major  Jones's  Courtship, 
p.  36. 

Workin'  ain't  genteel  nor  independent,  no  Itow  you  can  fix  it.  —  Pickings  from  the 
Picayune,  p.  74. 

"  According  to  my  notions,  riches  and  grandeur  ain't  to  be  compared  to  religion, 
no  how  you  can  fix  it ;  and  I  always  said  so,"  said  the  Widow  Bedott.  —  Bedott  Pa- 
pers, p.  135. 

To  Fix  one's  Flint  is  a  phrase  taken  from  backwoods  life,  and  means 
the  same  as  to  settle,  to  do  for,  to  dish. 

"  Take  it  easy,  Sam,"  says  I,  "your  flint  is  fixed;  you  are  wet  through ; "  and  I 
settled  do^vn  to  a  careless  walk,  quite  desperate.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  2. 

The  Bluenose  hante  the  tools  ;  and  if  he  had,  he  could  n't  use  them.     That 's  the 

reason  any  one  a'most  can  "fix  his  flint  for  him." — Ibid. 

» 

Fixed  Fact.  A  positive  or  well  established  fact,  what  the  French  call  un 
fait  accompli.  The  origin  of  the  phrase  is  attributed  to  the  Hon.  Caleb 
Gushing. 


FIX— FIZ  153 

The  Boston  Post,  in  speaking  of  tlie  trial  of  Captain  Stetson  for  pirat- 
ically running  away  with  a  ship  and  cargo,  says  : 

That  he  did  dispose  of  a  large  quantity  of  oil,  and  afterwards  desert  from  the  ves- 
sel, arc  fixed  facts.  — June,  1847. 

In  many  localities  spiritualism  has  become  a  fitted  fad,  and  its  modus  operandi  is 
well  understood  by  those  who  have  investigated  it  as  a  mental  science  on  the  plat- 
form of  cause  and  effect.  —  Christian  Spirititalist, 

Fixings.  A  word  used  with  absurd  laxity,  especially  in  the  South  and 
West,  to  signify  arrangements,  embellishments,  trimmings,  gamishings  of 
any  kind. 

The  theatre  was  better  filled,  and  the  fixings  looked  nicer,  than  in  Philadelphia.  — 
Crockett,  Tour  down  East,  p.  38. 

All  the  fellows  fell  to  getting  grapes  for  the  ladies  ;  but  they  all  had  then:  Sunday 
fixins  on,  and  were  afraid  to  go  into  the  brush.  —  Major  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  42, 

A  man  who  goes  into  the  woods,  as  one  of  these  veteran  settlers  observed  to  me, 
has  a  heap  of  little  ./inn's  to  study  out,  and  a  great  deal  of  projecting  to  do.  — Judge 
Hall,  I/etters  from  the  West,  Letter  18. 

When  we  parted  I  wanted  to  pay  him  something  handsome  for  all  his  trouble ;  but 
I  couldn't  git  him  to  take  nothing  but  an  X,  to  buy  some  wimmin  fixins  for  the  old 
lady  as  a  compliment  from  me.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

"Ah !  "  exclaimed  the  teamster  [to  a  gentleman  who  had  a  good  deal  of  luggage], 
"  what  anybody  on  earth  can  want  with  such  lots  of  fixins,  I  'm  sure  's  daik  to  me." 
—  Mrs.  Clovers,  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  97. 

One  half  of  the  country  is  overflowed  in  the  winter,  and  t'other  half,  which  is  a 
darned  sight  the  biggest,  is  covered  with  cane,  pimento,  and  other  .^rtns.  —  Porter's 
South-western  Tales,  p.  123. 

The  following  advice  was  given  to  the  editor  of  a  new  Western  paper : 
Advertise  our  doins  in  gineral,  such  as  we  got  to  sell,  and  throw  yourself  wide  on 
tlie  literary  fixins  and  poetry  for  the  galls  ;  and.  Mister,  if  you  do  this  with  spirit,  the 
whole  town  Avill  take  your  paper.  — Eobb,  Squatter  Life,  p.  31. 

For  a  use  of  the  term  as  applied  to  food,  see  Chicken  Fixings. 

Fizzle.     A  ridiculous  failure.     The  figure  is  that  of  wet  powder,  which 
burns  with  a  hissing  noise  and  then  goes  out  without  producing  any  effect. 
It  is  neai-ly  equivalent  to  the  analogous  expression,  "  a  ilash  in  the  pan." 
In  many  colleges  of  the  United  States,  this  elegant  term  is  used  to  de- 
note a  blundering  recitation.     It  has  been  held  that  to  hit  just  one  third 
of  the  meaning  constitutes  "  a  perfect  ^zz?e."  —  Hall's  College  Words. 
With  mind  and  body  so  nearly  at  rest  that  naught  interrupted  my  inmost  repose 
save  cloudy  reminiscences  of  a  morning  fizde  and  an  afternoon  flunk,  my  tranquil- 
lity was  sufficiently  enviable.  —  Yale  Literary  Magazine,  Vol.  XV.  p.  114. 
Here  he  could  fizzles  mark,  without  a  sigh, 
And  see  orations  unregai-ded  die.  —  The  Tomahawk,  Nov.  1849. 

In  Pi'inceton  CoUege,  the  word  blue  is  used  with  fizzle,  to  render  it  in- 
tensive ;  as,  he  made  "  a  blue  Jizzle"  "  he  Jizzled  blue." 


154  FIZ  — FLA 

The  term  is  used  with  equally  happy  eflfect  in  political  as  in  college 
slang. 

The  trick  of  the  administration  to  palm  off  the  Washington  Union  upon  the  Sen- 
ate as  the  National  Democrat  organ,  was  a  fizzle  and  a  shocking  failure.  —  N.  Y. 
Herald. 

To  Fizzle.  1.  To  fail  in  reciting ;  to  recite  badly.  A  correspondent  from 
"Williams  College  says :  "  Flunk  is  the  common  Avord  when  some  unfor- 
tunate man  makes  an  utter  failure  in  recitation.  He  fizzles  when  he 
stumbles  through  at  last."  A  writer  in  the  Yale  Literary  Messenger 
thus  aptly  defines  the  word :  "  Fizzle.  To  rise  with  modest  reluctance, 
to  hesitate  often,  to  decline  finally ;  generally,  to  misunderstand  the  ques- 
tion."—  HalVs  College  Words. 

My  dignity  is  outraged  at  beholding  those  who  fizzle  and  flunk  in  my  presence 
tower  above  me.  —  The  Yale  Banger,  Oct.  22,  1847. 

2.  To  cause  one  to  fail  in  reciting.     Said  of  an  instructor.  —  Jfall. 

Fizzle  him  tenderly, 

Bore  him  with  care ; 
Fitted  60  slenderly. 

Tutor,  beware.  —  Yale  Lit.  Mag.  Vol.  XIII.  p.  321. 

To  Fizzle  out.  To  be  quenched,  extinguished ;  to  prove  a  failure.  A 
favorite  expression  in  Ohio. 

The  factious  and  revolutionary  action  of  the  fifteen  has  interrupted  the  regular 
business  of  the  Senate,  disgraced  the  actors,  and  fizzled  out !  —  Cincinnati  Gazette. 

Is  the  new  hotel  [one  called  the  Burnet  House]  to  be  given  up,  or  to  go  on  ?  To 
go  on.  It  cannot  be  possible,  after  all  that  has  been  said  and  done  about  a  "  splen- 
did hotel,"  that  our  enterprising  business  men  will  let  it  fizzle  out.  —  Ibid. 

You  never  get  tired  of  a  good  horse.  He  don't  fizzle  out.  You  like  him  better 
and  better  every  day.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  55. 

Flakes.  Long  poles  laid  upon  crotched  posts  driven  into  the  ground,  par- 
allel to  each  other,  about  two  feet  apart  and  covered  with  brush,  upon 
which  codfish  are  spread  to  dry. 

The  owners  of  vessels  [in  fishing  districts]  have  a  flake-yard  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
landing-places,  to  which  the  fish  are  carried  on  being  landed.  —  Peter  Gott,  the  Fish- 
erman. 

Fish  flakes  were  spread  upon  the  beach,  and  the  women  were  busy  in  turning  the 
cod  upon  them.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature. 

To  Flash  in  the  Pan.  To  fail  of  success.  A  metaphor  borrowed 
from  a  gun,  which,  after  being  primed  and  ready  to  be  discharged,  some- 
times fiashes  in  the  pan. 

Mr.  Lowell,  in  his  poem  on  the  school-house,  speaks  of  the  dame,  who, 
prim  and  calm, 


could  detect  at  once 


"Who  flashed  in  the  pan,  and  who  was  downright  dunce. 


FLA  — FLA  155 

Flash  board.  A  board  placed  upon  a  mill-dam  when  a  river  is  low,  in 
order  to  obtain  a  greater  fall  of  water.  It  is  temporary,  being  placed  and 
removed  from  the  dam  as  circmnstances  require. 

Flat.  1.  Li  America  this  word  is  applied  to  low  alluvial  lands.  "  The 
Mohawk  flats  "  is  a  term  universally  applied  to  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk 
river,  on  either  side  of  which  are  alluvial  lands.  See  Bottom  Lands. 
It  is  also  applied  to  river  shoals,  where  they  are  of  much  extent. 

In  New  England,  all  the  spaces  between  high  and  low-water  mark  on 
the  sea-shore,  or  in  bays,  inlets,  etc.,  where  the  sea  flows  and  ebbs. 

The  title  of  the  Commonwealth,  as  owner  thereof  in  fee,  to  all  the  flats  or  lands, 
....  below  the  ordinary  line  of  riparian  ownership,  from  which  the  natural  fldw 
of  the  tides  in  Boston  harbor  has  been  cut  off  bj  dams  or  otherwise,  and  also  the 
flxjts  below  said  line,  is  hereby  asserted  and  declared,  etc.,  etc.  —  Laws  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

2.  A  broad-brimmed,  low-crowned,  straw  hat,  worn  by  women. 

3.  A  species  of  flat-bottomed  boat,  used  on  the  Mississippi  and  other 
rivers.     See  Fiat-Boat. 

4.  A  rejection,  dismissal.     See  To  Flat. 

To  Flat.  To  reject  a  lover ;  as,  "  Miss  Deborah  gave  Ike  the  flat"  "  He 's 
got  the  fl^t,"  "  She  flaited  him."     Western. 

Flat-Boat.    A  rude  sort  of  vessel  used  for  transporting  produce,  etc., 
down  the  IMississippi  River.     It  is  thus  described  by  Flint :  "  They  are 
simply  an  oblong  ark,  with  a  roof  slightly  curved  from  the  centre  to  shed 
rain.    They  are  generally  above  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  from  fifty  to  eighty 
and  sometimes  an  hundred  feet  in  length.     The  timbers  of  the  bottom 
are  massive  beams,  and  they  are  intended  to  be  of  great  strength,  and  to 
carry  a  burden  of  from  two  to  four  hundred  barrels.     Great  numbers  of 
cattle,  hogs,  and  horses  are  conveyed  to  market  in  them.     "We  have  seen 
family  boats  of  this  description,  fitted  up  for  the  descent  of  families  to  the 
lower  country,  with  a  stove,  comfortable  apartments,  beds,  and  arrange- 
ments for  commodious  habitancy.  —  Hist,  and  Geogr.  of  Miss.  Valley. 
These  boats  are  also  called  Kentucky  Flats  and  Broadhorns.     See  Arh. 
Finally  one  of  'em  ses,  "Don't  make  fun  of  the  unfortunate;  he's  hardly  got 
over  bein'  blowed  up  yet.    Let 's  make  up  a  puss  for  him."     Then  they  all  throwed 
in  and  made  up  five  dollars.    As  the  spokesman  handed  me  the  change,  he  axed 
me,  "  Whar  did  you  find  yotirself  arter  the  'splosion  1 "    "In  z,  flat-boat,  ses  I."  — 
Widow  Bagly's  Husband. 

To  Flat-boat.    To  transport  in  a  flat-boat. 

The  first  enterprise  of  Josiah  Hedges  on  his  own  account  was  a  trading  exctirsion 
to  New  Orleans  with  fruit,  which  ha  flat-boated  from  Wheeling  to  that  point.  —  Nat. 
Intelligencer,  July  29,  1858. 

Flat-boatman.    A  hand  employed  on  a  flat-boat. 


15ff  FLA  — FLU 

Flat  broke.  Utterly  bankrupt,  entirely  out  of  money.  The  Califor- 
nia correspondent  of  the  Boston  Post,  in  speaking  of  the  emigration, 
says  :  Many  emigrants,  arriving  in  that  state  of  collapsity  termed  flat 
broke,  staid  at  Los  Angelos  because  they  could  n't  go  on. 

To  Flat  out.  To  collapse,  to  prove  a  failure.  A  Western  phrase  ap- 
plied to  a  political  meeting  ;  as,  "  The  meeting  flatted  out." 

Flat-Footed.  Downright,  resolute ;  firmly,  resolutely.  A  term  belong- 
ing to  the  Western  political  slang,  with  which  the  halls  of  congress,  as 
well  as  the  newspapers,  are  now  deluged. 

Col.  M attempted  to  define  his  position,  but,  being  unable,  exclaimed  :  I  'm 

an  independent,  flat-footed  man,  and  am  neither  for  nor  against  the  mill-dam.  — 
Tennessee  Newspaper. 

At  the  forks  of  the  road  there  lived  a  brawny,  stalwart  son  of  Vulcan.  He  was 
a  man  of  strong  will,  and  a  zealous  disciple  of  Tom  Paine.  His  herculean  frame, 
and  bold,  flat-footed  way  of  saying  things,  had  impressed  his  neighbors,  and  he  held 
the  rod  in  tciTorem  over  them.  — Harper's  Mag.,  Sept.  1858. 

Mr.  Pickens,  of  South  Carolina,  has  come  out  flat-footed  for  the  administration — 
a  real  redhot  democrat,  dyed  in  the  wool —  denounces  Mr.  Calhoun — and  is  ready 
now  to  take  any  high  office.  But  the  mission  to  England  is  beyond  his  reach. — 
N.  Y.  Herald,  June  30,  1846. 

Flat  Top.     See  Iron  Weed. 

Flea-Bane.  {Erigeron  canadense.)  One  of  the  most  hardy  and  com- 
mon weeds.  It  propagates  itself  rapidly,  and,  since  the  discovery  of 
America,  has  been  introduced  and  spread  through  most  countries  in  Eu- 
rope. —  Bigelow's  Flora  Bost. 

This  plant  is  sold  by  the  Shakers  for  its  medical  properties,  which  are 
astringent  and  diuretic. 

Fucker.     See  Clape. 

Flitter.    A  corruption  of  the  "wovdi  fritter,  a  pan-cake. 

Floor.  Used  in  congress,  in  this  expression,  to  get  the  Jloor ;  that  is,  to 
obtain  an  opportunity  of  taking  part  in  a  debate.  The  English  say,  to 
he  in  possession  of  the  House.  —  Pickering^ s  Vocahulary. 

To  Flour.  To  grind  and  bolt,  to  convert  into  flour. —  Webster.  A 
word  used  in  those  parts  of  the  country  where  there  are  mills  for  grind- 
ing wheat.  Ex.  "  The  mill  can  flour  two  hundred  barrels  a  day,"  i.  e. 
it  can  make  so  many  barrels  of  flour.    • 

Flouring-Mill.    a  grist-mill. 

Flummux.  In  colleges,  applied  to  a  poor  recitation ;  a  failure.  —  HaWs 
College  Words. 


FLU  — FLU  157 

To  Flummux.  To  give  in,  give  up ;  to  die.  The  word  is  used  in  Eng- 
land, but  not  in  the  same  manner.  According  to  Halliwell  it  means,  "  to 
overcome,  frighten,  bewilder,  foil,  disappoint,  or  mistify  ;  also,  to  maul  or 
mangle."  —  Diet,  of  Arch,  and  Prov.  Words. 

Prehaps  Parsou  Hyme  did  n't  put  into  Pokerville  for  two  mortal  houi-s ;  and  pre- 
haps  Pokerville  did  n't  mizzle,  wince,  and  finally  flummix  right  beneath  him.  — 
Field,  Drama  in  Pokerville. 

Be  ye  men  of  mighty  stomachs. 
Men  that  can't  be  made  to  flummux. 

Oyster  War  of  Accomac,  N.  Y.  Tribune,  April,  1849. 

I  thought  I  should  a  flummuxed !  The  dogs  they  sidled  back ;  an'  Ike  cussed ; 
and  I  lay  down  an'  rolled,  till  I  was  so  full  I  thought  I  should  a  bust  my  bilor.  — 
Mike  Hooter's  Bear  Story. 

Flunk.    A  backing  out ;  a  total  failure  in  a  college  recitation. 

The  Sabbath  dawns  upon  the  poor  student  burdened  with  the  thought  of  the  les- 
son OT flunk  of  the  morrow  morning.  —  Yale  Tomahawk,  Feb.. 1861. 
In  moody  meditation  sunk, 
Eeflecting  on  my  future  ^ani. —  Songs  of  Yale,  1853. 

To  Flunk.     To  fail  utterly  in  a  college  examination. 

They  know  that  a  man  who  has  flunked,  because  too  much  of  a  genius  to  get  his 
lesson,  is  not  in  a  state  to  appreciate  joking.  —  Amherst  Indicator,  Vol.  I.  p.  253. 

To  Flunk  out.     To  retire  through  fear ;  to  give  up,  back  out. 

Why,  little  one,  you  must  be  cracked,  if  you  flunk  out  before  we  begin. — J.  C. 
Neal. 

We  must  hare  at  least  as  many  subscribers  as  there  are  students  in  college,  or 
flunk  out.— The  Crayon,  Yale  Coll.  1823. 

Flunky.  1.  A  class  of  people,  who,  unacquainted  with  the  manner  in 
which  stocks  are  bought  and  sold,  and  deceived  by  appearances,  come 
into  Wall  street  without  any  knowledge  of  the  mai-ket.  The  conse- 
quence is,  they  make  bad  investments,  or  lose  their  money.  These  the 
brokers  call  flunkies.  —  A  Week  in  Wall  Street,  p.  81. 

A  broker  who  had  met  with  heavy  losses,  exclaimed,  "I  'm  in  a  bear-trap — this 
won't  do.  The  dogs  will  come  over  me.  I  shall  be  mulct  in  a  loss.  But  I  've  got 
time ;  I  '11  turn  the  scale ;  I  '11  help  the  bulls  operate  for  a  rise,  and  draw  iii  the 
flunkies."— Ibid.  p.  90. 

2.  In  college  parlance,  says  Mr.  Hall,  in  his  College  Words,  "  one  who 
makes  a  complete  failure ;  one  who  flunks." 

I  bore  him  safe  thi'oughHorace, 
Saved  him  fi*om  the  flunkey's  doom, 

Yale  Lit.  Mag.  Vol.  XX. 

Flutteb-wheel.  a  very  small  water-wheel,  used  where  there  is  but 
but  little  head  of  water.    Western.     Probably  from  its  rapid  motion. 

14 


158  FLI  — FOO 

Flier.  A  venture.  To  take  a  flier  in  stocks,  is  the  expression  used  in 
Wall  street  when  persons  not  stockbrokers,  or  dealers  in  stocks,  occa- 
sionally make  a  venture.  Their  orders  are  given  to  the  regular  brokers, 
who  execute  them  for  a  commission,  without  becoming  personally  respon- 
sible to  the  parties  with  whom  they  make  the  transaction. 

To  Fly  off  the  Handle.  To  break  out,  become  excited;  also,  to 
break  a  promise. 

When  I  used  to  tell  minister  this,  as  he  was  flying  off  the  handle,  he  'd  say,  Sam, 
you  're  as  correct  as  Euclid,  but  as  cold  and  dry.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p. 
149. 

Now  and  then  one  of  the  girls  would  promise,  and  then  fly  off  at  the  handle;  but 
most  all  contrived  some  reason  for  giving  me  the  bag  to  hold. — McClintock,  Bee- 
die's  Marriage. 

To  Fly  around.  To  stir  about,  to  be  active.  A  very  common  ex- 
pression. 

Come,  ga\s,fly  round,  and  let 's  get  Mrs.  Clavers  some  supper. — A  New  Home, 
p.  13. 

Fetch  on  the  pies  and  puddings.  Fly  round  and  change  the. plates. —  Widow 
Bedott  Papers,  p.  167.  • 

Flying  Fish.     See  Sea  Rohin. 

Folks.  This  old  word  is  much  used  in  New  England,  instead  of  "  people  " 
or  "persons."  1.  For  the  persons  in  one's  family;  as  in  this  common 
phrase,  "  How  do  your  folks  do  ?  "  that  is,  your  family.  2.  For  people 
in  general ;  as  in  expressions  of  this  kind :  "  What  ^o  folks  think  of  it  ?  " 
etc.  Dr.  Johnson  observes  that  "  it  is  now  only  used  in  familiar  or  bur- 
lesque language."  —  Pickering. 

Old  good  man  Dobson  of  the  green 

Remembers  he  the  tree  has  seen. 

And  goes  -m^  folks  to  shew  the  sight.  —  Swift. 

Foo-FOO.  In  New  York,  a  slang  word, meaning  an  "outsider,"  or  one  not 
in  the  secrets  of  a  society,  party,  or  band. 

Don't  know  what  &  foofoo  is?  Well,  as  you're  a  greenhorn,  I'll  enlighten 
you.  Afoofoo,  or  an  outsider,  is  a  chap  that  can't  come  the  big  figure. — A  Glance 
at  New  York. 

Fool-Fish.  (Genus  Monocanthus.  Cuvier.)  The  popular  name  of  the 
Long-finned  File-fish.  "  Our  fishermen  apply  to  it  the  whimsical  name  of 
Fool-fish,"  says  Dr.  DeKay,  "  in  allusion  to  what  they  consider  its  ab- 
surd mode  of  swimming  with  a  wriggling  motion,  its  body  being  sunk, 
and  its  mouth  just  on  a  level  with  the  water."  —  Nat.  Hist,  of  New  York. 

Foot.  "  To  foot  it,"  is  familiar  English ;  but  the  Western  phrase,  "  To 
take  his  foot  in  his  hand,"  is  assuredly  a  bold  stretch  of  language. 


FOO— FOR  159 

Foot-stove.  A  contrivance  for  keeping  the  feet  warm,  formeriy  carried 
by  old  ladies  to  the  meeting-house  on  Sundays,  and  used  by  huckster- 
women  in  the  markets.  It  consists  of  a  small  square  tin  box,  perforated 
with  holes  and  inclosed  in  a  wooden  frame,  with  a  wire  handle.  It  has 
a  door  on  one  side,  through  which  is  thrust  a  small  square  ii'on  dish  of  live 
coals,  sprinkled  over  with  a  few  ashes. 

For,  before  the  infinitive  particle  "  to,"  so  frequent  in  early  writers,  but 
now  deemed  a  vulgarism,  is  still  retained  in  the  West. 

Forbidden  Fruit.  {Citrus  paradisi.)  The  Paradise  Orange,  a  fruit 
almost  as  large  as  a  shaddock.     Jamaica,  W.  Ind. 

Force.     In  the  South,  the  slaves  of  a  planter  able  to  work  in  the  field. 

Forefathers'  Dat.  In  New  England,  the  day  on  which  the  pilgrims 
landed  at  Plymouth  (the  22d  December). 

Fore-handed.  To  he  fore-handed  is  to  be  in  good  circumstances,  to  be 
comfortably  off.  Compare  Aforehand.  The  expression  is  much  used  in 
the  interior  parts  of  the  country. 

Many  of  the  new  houses  wliich  have  been  built,  have  been  built  by  mechanics, 
fore-handed  men,  as  we  say  in  New  England,  who  have  accumulated  small  sums. 
—  Providence  Journal. 

Mrs.  Ainsworth  made  so  long  a  visit  among  her  Eastern  friends,  who  are  now 
fore-handed  folks,  that  she  has  come  back  imbued  most  satisfactorily  with  a  loving 
appreciation  of  the  advantages  of  civilization.  —  Mrs.  Clavers,  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I. 
p.  50. 

Foreigner.  1.  A  person  bom  out  of  the  United  States,  including  natu- 
ralized citizens. 

2.  Li  some  of  the  Southern  States  the  term  is  also  applied  to  persons 
bom  in  another  State.  Thus,  Virginians  call  all  other  Americans  ybr- 
eigners. 

Fore  Pat.  "  There  are  two  bad  paymasters,  no  pay  and  fore  pay." 
This  proverbial  expression  is  frequently  heard  in  the  West. 

Forest  City.     Cleveland,  in  the  State  of  Ohio. 

To  Fork  over.  To  hand  over;  to  pay  over,  as  money.  A  slang  ex- 
pression of  frequent  use. 

He  groaned  in  spirit  at  the  thought  of  parting  with  so  much  money.  There  was, 
however,  no  help  for  it,  so  he  forked  over  the  five  dollars.  — Knickerbocker  Mag. 

A  would-be  prophet  down  South  lately  said  in  one  of  his  sermons,  that  "  he  was 
sent  to  redeem  the  world  and  all  things  therein."  Whereupon  a  native  pulled  out 
two  five  doUar  bills  of  a  broken  bank,  and  asked  him  to  fork  over  the  specie  for 
them.  —  Newspaper. 

What  more  right  has  a  man  to  say  to  you,  "  stand  and  deliver  your  name,"  than 
to  say,  "  stand  aaAfork  over  your  purse  ?  "  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  17. 


160  FOR— FOX 

To  Fork  tjp.  To  pay  up  ;  as,  "  Jonatlian,  I  've  trusted  you  long  enough  ; 
so  fork  up." 

Forks.  In  the  plural,  the  pomt  where  a  road  parts  into  two  ;  and  the 
point  where  a  river  divides,  or  rather  where  two  rivers  meet  and  unite 
in  one  stream.     Each  branch  is  called  a  fork. —  Webster. 

Finally,  the  Pawnees  abandoned  the  field  to  their  victorious  enemies,  leaving  sixty 
of  their  warriors  upon  the  ensanguined  battle  ground.  The  defeated  party  were 
pursued  only  a  short  distance,  and  then  permitted  to  return  without  further  moles- 
tation to  their  village,  at  the  Forks  of  the  Platte."  —  Scenes  in  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
p.  50. 

About  the  same  time  the  village  on  Eepublican  Fork  of  Kansas  was  also  aban- 
doned, and  its  inhabitants  united  with  the  Loups.  —  Ibid. 

FoRNENT.  Opposite  to.  This  Scottish  word  is  now  much  used  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  the  Western  States. 

To  Fort  in.     To  intrench  in  a  fort. 

A  few  inhabitants /ortet?  in  on  the  Potomac.  — MarsTialVs  Washington. 

FORTINER.  (For-aught-I-know.)  This  remarkable  specimen  of  clipping 
and  condensing  a  phrase  approaches  the  Indian  method  of  forming  words. 
The  word  is  very  common  through  New  England,  Long  Island,  and  the 
rest  of  New  York.     See  Farziner. 

Fortnight.  A  "Western  man  has  remarked  that  this  word  is  rarely  heard 
in  the  new  States,  where,  instead,  they  say  "  two  weeks." 

Forwarding  Merchant.  One  whose  business  it  is  to  receive  and  for- 
ward goods  for  others.  The  internal  navigation  and  trade  of  the  United 
States,  so  great  is  the  extent  of  our  country,  requires  forwarding  mer- 
chants in  all  the  principal  towns. 

FoTCH,  iov  fetched,  is  used  by  ignorant  persons,  especially  the  blacks  at  the 
South. 

Found.  Ignorant  and  careless  speakers  say,  "The  prisoner  was  found 
ten  dollars,"  instead  of  he  was  fined.  They  want  to  form  the  past  tense, 
and  the  proper  word  sounds  too  much  like  the  present  find.  Comp. 
Held. 

To  Fourfold.  To  assess  in  a  fourfold  ratio.  IVIr.  Pickering  quotes  this 
word  from  "Webster's  Dictionary,  and  observes  that  it  is  peculiar  to  the 
State  of  Connecticut.     Dr.  "Webster  afterwards  expunged  it. 

Four  Pence  Ha'penny,  or  Four  Pence.  The  New  England  name  of 
the  Spanish  half  real.     See  Federal  Currency. 

To  Fox.     To  fox  boots  is  to  repair  them  by  adding  new  soles,  and  sur- 


FOX  — FRE  161 

rounding  the  feet  with  new  leather.  —  Worcester.    I  am  told  the  term  is 
used  in  Ireland. 

Fox  Fire.  Rotten  wood  which  makes  a  phosphorescent  light.  It  may  be 
a  corruption  of  phosphorus. 

Fox  Grape.  (  Vitis  lahrusca.)  A  large  grape  common  on  the  borders  of 
streams.  The  surface  of  the  leaf  is  characterized  by  its  foxy  pubes- 
cence. The  Southern  fox  grape  is  Vitis  Vidpina.  Its  fruit  is  larger, 
and  its  taste  'more  agreeable,  than  the  former. 

Foxed,  or  Foxy.  A  term  applied  to  timber  or  paper,  when  discolored  by 
incipient  decay.     Also  used  in  England. 

To  Fraggle.     To  rob.     A  word  used  in  Texas. 

Free  Labor.  Labor  performed  by  freemen,  in  contradistinction  to  that 
of  slaves,  a  term  now  greatly  in  vogue  both  at  the  North  and  South. 

So,  wheresoe'er  oar  destiny  sends  forth 
Its  widening  circles  to  the  South  or  North, 
Where'er  our  banner  flaunts  beneath  the  stars 
Its  mimic  splendors  and  its  cloud-like  bars, 
There  shall  Free  Labor's  hardy  children  stand. 
The  equal  sovereigns  of  a  slaveless  land. 

J.  G.  Whittier,  The  Panorama. 

Free  Love.  Freedom  of  the  affections ;  the  right  to  consort  with  those 
with  whom  we  have  "  elective  affinities,"  regardless  of  the  shackles  of 
matrimony.  "Within  the  last  few  years  several  associations  have  been 
organized  in  the  North,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  this  doctrine  into 
practical  effect. 

At  the  convention  in  Rutland,  last  week,  after  an  afternoon  spent  in  denouncing 
the  Bible,  the  marriage  institution,  etc.,  and  in  laudation  of  "  spirituahsm,"  "  veg- 
etarianism," and  "free  love,"  Elder  Grant,  the  Millerite,  got  up  and  repeated  1st 
Timothy  iv.  1,  3,  "Now  the  spirit  speaketh  expressly  that  in  the  latter  times  some 
shall  depart  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doctrines  of  devils,  for- 
bidding to  marry,  commanding  to  abstain  from  meats,"  etc.  Whether  because  this 
apt  passage  proved  unpalatable,  or  for  some  other  reason,  the  convention  inconti- 
tinently  adjourned.  — Nat.  Intelligencer,  July  3,  1858. 

Free  Lover.     An  advocate  of  the  free  love  doctrine. 

A  "  reform  convention  "  assembled  at  Rutland,  Vermont,  on  Friday.  About  a 
thousand  persons — abolitionists,  spiritualists,,  and  free  lovers  —  attended,  the  spirit- 
ualists predominating.  —  Bolt.  Sun,  June  28,  1858. 

Free-lovism.     The  doctrine  of  free  love. 

Free  Soil.     Freedom  of  the  soil  belonging  to  the  United  States,  and  not 
yet  formed  into  States,  from  negro  slavery. 
14* 


162  FEE  — FRE 

The  people  are  roused  !     They  've  slumbered  too  long, 
While  Freedom  grew  weak,  and  Tyranny  strong. 
But  now  they  are  coming  from  hill  and  glen. 
They  come  to  the  rescue — the  Free-Soil  men. 

Mrs.  Child,  Free  Soil  Song. 

Free-soiler.  An  advocate  of  the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  territo- 
ries belonging  to  the  United  States.  A  word  which  first  came  into  use 
in  the  year  1848. 

I  only  want  to  see  the  first  free-soiler  here.  I  '11  drop  the  first  one  that  opens  his 
mouth  for  abolition  cusses.  I  '11  be  dog-gauned  if  I  don't.  —  Gladstone,  Englishmen 
in  Kansas,  p.  48. 

Free-soilisx.  The  principles  or  doctrines  of  the  advocates  of  freedom 
in  the  territories  in  opposition  to  those  of  slavery. 

I  tell  you,  mark  every  scoundrel  among  you  that  is  the  least  tainted  with  free- 
soilism  or  abolitionism,  and  exterminate  him.  Neither  give  nor  take  quarter  from 
them.  —  Speech  of  Gen.  Stringfellow  in  the  Kansas  Legislature. 

Free  States.     Those  States  in  which  negro  slavery  does  not  exist. 

Equal  and  exact  justice  to  both  slave  and  free  States  is  the  only  ground  upon 
which  the  Southern  States  can  maintain  their  claim  to  equal  rights  in  the  Federal 
Union.  — Richmond  Enquirer,  Aug.  1858. 

Freeze.     A  Southern  term  for  frosty  weather. 

The  effects  of  the  late  freeze  have  been  severely  felt.  —  Charleston  Paper. 

To  Freeze.     To  have  a  longing  desire  for  any  thing.     South-western. 

This  child  has  felt  like  going  West  for  many  a  month,  being  half  froze  for  buffalo 
meat  and  mountain  doins.  —  Ruxton's  Far  West. 

Fresh,  n.     1.  An  abbreviation  for  Freshman. 

2.  Used  locally  in  Maryland  for  a  stream  distinct  from  the  tide  water ; 
as,  «  Allen's  Fresh,"  «  Pile's  Fresh."  The  lands  in  Talbot  County,  Md., 
are  divided  into  freshes  and  salts. 

Fresh,  adj.     Forward,  bold;  as,  "don't  make  yourself  too /resA  here." 

Freshet.  A  flood,  or  overflowing  of  a  river,  by  means  of  heavy  rains  or 
melted  snow  ;  an  inundation.  —  Webster. 

This  word  is  used  in  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States.  That  it  is  an 
old  English  word  is  evinced  by  the  following  extract  from  the  Descrip- 
tion of  New  England,  written  and  published  in  England,  in  1658  : 

"Between  Salem  and  Charlestown  is  situated  the  town  of  Lynn,  near  to  a  river, 
whose  strong  freshet  at  the  end  of  the  winter  filleth  all  her  banks,  and  with  a  violent 
torrent  vents  itself  into  the  sea." — p.  29. 

It  appears  to  be  now  confined  to  America ;  but  the  word  fresh  is 
still  used  in  the  north  of  England  and  in  Scotland  in  precisely  the 
same  sense.  See  Pickering's  Vocabulary  for  a  full  discussion  of  the  word 
and  its  uses. 


FRI  — FUF  163 

Frijoles  (jpTon.fre-hd-les).  Spanish.  Kidney  beans.  A  common  arti- 
cle o£  food  upon  the  plains  and  on  the  Mexican  frontier. 

Feoe.     An  iron  wedge.     New  England. 

The  shingle-maker  stands  with  froe  in  one  hand  and  mallet  in  the  other,  endeav- 
oring to  rive  a  billet  of  hemlock  on  a  block.  —  Margaret,  p.  159. 

"  He  beat  his  head  all  to  smash  with  a  froe,"  said  one.  "  No,  it  was  with  an  axe," 
said  another.  —  Ibid.  p.  323. 

Frog.  The  iron  plate  where  two  lines  of  railroad  intersect ;  probably  so 
called  from  its  resemblance  to  the  "  frog  "  of  a  horse's  foot. 

Frolic.     A  favorite  term  in  the  "West  for  a  party. 

Fr03IETT,  Frumtt.  Wheat  boiled  with  milk,  to  which  sugar  and  spice 
are  added.  —  Hallamshire  Glossary.     Used  in  Maryland. 

Frost-Fish.  (Genus,  morrhua.)  A  small  fish  which  abounds  on  our 
coast  during  the  winter  months.  It  is  also  called  Tom-cod.  —  Storerj 
Fishes  of  Massachusetts. 

Frost-Grape.     See  Chichen- Grape. 

Frostwort.  (Cisttis  canadensis.)  A  medicinal  plant  prepared  by  the 
Shakers,  and  used  for  its  astringent,  and  tonic  properties. 

Frought.  Frough  is  provincial  in  the  north  of  England,  and  means  any 
thing  loose,  spongy,  or  easily  broken  ;  often  applied  to  wood,  as  "  brittle  " 
is  to  mineral  substances.  —  Brochett's  Glossary.  ^'■Froiighy  butter"  is 
rancid  butter. 

This  word  is  in  common  use  in  many  parts  of  New  England.  It 
is  doubtless  a  corruption  of  frough,  which  is  sometimes  used  here.  — ■ 
Pickering. 

Frotvchet.  (Dutch,  vrouwtje.)  A  fiirbelowed  old  woman.  Local  in 
New  York  and  its  vicinity. 

To  Frump.  To  mock ;  to  insult.  A  very  old  word,  occurring  in  the  dic- 
tionaries of  Cotgrave  and  Minshew. 

I  was  abas'd  andfrumped,  sir.  — Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

This  old  word,  though  long  out  of  use  in  England,  stiU  lingers  among 
the  descendants  of  the  first  settlers  in  New  England. 

The  sleighs  warped  from  side  to  side ;  the  riders  screamed,  cxoss-hit,  Jrumped,  and 
hooted  at  each  other.  —  Margaret,  p.  174.  ~ 

FuEFY.  Light ;  soft ;  puffy.  Used  in  Yorkshire,  England,  and  preserved 
in  some  parts  of  New  England. 

She  mounted  the  high,  white, /u^  plain;  a  dead  and  unbounded  waste  lay  all 
about  her.  —  Margaret,  p.  168. 


164  FtTL  — FUR 

Full  Chisel.  At  full  speed  ;  an  equivalent  for  the  phrases  "  full  drive" 
and  "  full  split,"  both  of  which  are  used  in  England  and  in  this  country. 
A  modern  New  England  vulgarism. 

"  Oh  yes,  sir,  I'll  get  you  my  master's  seal  in  a  minute."  And  off  he  set  full  chisel. 
—  Sam  Slick  in  Emjland,  eh.  ii. 

The  moose  looked  round  at  us,  shook  his  head  a  few  times,  then  turned  round  and 
fetched  a  spring  right  at  us  full  chisel.  — John  Smith's  Letters. 

At  that  the  boys  took  arter  them  full  chisel,  and  the  galls  run  as  if  a  catamount  had 
been  arter  them. — Downing,  May-day  in  New  York,  p.  46. 

And  so  the  Yankee  staves  along 
Full  chisel,  hitting  right  or  wrong ; 
And  makes  the  burden  of  his  song, 

By  Golly  !  — Anonymous. 

Full  team.    A  powerful  man ;  a  man  of  consequence. 

Funeral.  "  To  preach  a,  funeral."  In  some  parts  of  the  West,  the  funeral 
sermon  is  preached,  not  at  the  time  of  the  burial,  but  long  after,  sometimes 
even  a  year  after  the  death  of  the  person.  The  custom  arose,  probably, 
from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  competent  "  preacher  "  in  a  thinly  settled 
country.  After  so  long  an  interval,  "  preaching  the  funeral,"  which  is  al- 
most always  accompanied  by  a  feast,  becomes  rather  an  occasion  of 
merrymaking  than  of  lamentation. 

To  FuNERALizE.  To  perform  the  clerical  duties  preparatory  to  a  funeral. 
Southern. 

Funk.     1.  Fear,  or  sensibihty  to  fear ;  cowardice. 

So  my  friend's  fault  is  timidity I  grant,  then,  that  the  funk  is   sublime, 

which  is  a  true  and  friendly  admission.  — Letter  in  Literary  World,  Nov.  30,  1850. 

2.  A  coward. 

To  Funk.  To  make  an  offensive  smoke  or  dust.  When  the  smoke  puffs 
out  from  a  chimney  place  or  stove,  we  say  '^  it  fitnks."  The  term  is  also 
applied  to  the  dust  which  is  caused  by  a  vehicle  on  a  road.  The  ex- 
pression, in  the  former  sense  at  least,  is  used  in  England. 

To  Funk  out.     To  '''  back  out "  in  a  cowardly  manner. 

To  funk  right  out  o'  political  strife  aint  thought  to  be  the  thing. 
Without  you  deacon  off  the  tune  you  want  your  folks  should  sing. 

Biglow  Papers. 

To  FuNKiFY.     To  frighten ;  to  alarm.     New  England. 

Scared!  says  he,  serves  him  right  then;  he  might  have  knowed  how  to  feel  for 
other  folks,  and  not  fankify  them  so  peskily.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  viii. 

FuKROW.     To  draw  a  straight  furrow  is  to  live  uprightly  or  decorously. 
Governor  B.  is  a  sensible  man ; 
He  stays  to  his  home  and  looks  arter  his  folks ; 


FUS  — GAL  165 

He  (/razes  his  furrow  as  straight  as  he  can, 
And  into  nobody's  tater-patch  pokes.  —  Bighw  Papers. 

To  FusH  OUT.     To  come  to  nothing.     Comp.  To  Fizzle  out. 

Ftke.     (Dutch,  fuik,  a  weel,  bow-net.)    The  large  bow-nets  in  New  York 
harbor,  used  for  catching  shad,  are  called  shad-fykes. 


a 

Gabblement.     Gabble,  prate.     A  Southern  word. 

"  This  court 's  got  as  good  ears  as  any  man,"  said  the  magistrate;  "  but  they  aint 
for  to  hear  no  old  woman's  gabblement,  though  it 's  under  oath."  —  Chron.  of  Pine- 
mile. 

Gad.  a  long  stick  or  switch,  especially  one  used  for  driving  oxen.  So 
used  also  in  the  north  of  England. 

I  looked  around  and  saw  where  the  three  had  set  down  on  a  log.  I  measured 
the  length  of  the  foot,  and  found  where  they  had  cut  a  big  gad.  —  JV.  Y".  Spirit  of 
the  Times,  Oct.  1848. 

Gaff.  An  artificial  spur  put  upon  game-cocks ;  so  called  from  its  resem- 
blance to  fishing  and  nautical  instruments,  properly  gaffie. 

Gal.  a  vulgar  pronunciation  of  girl,  ahke  common  in  England  and 
America. 

At  length  came  in  the  Deacon's  Sail 

From  milking  at  the  bam,  sir ; 
And  faith  she  is  as  good  a  gal 
As  ever  tmstcd  yam,  sir.  —  Song,  Yankee  Doodle. 

Gal-boy.     A  romping  girl,  a  hoyden,  a  tom-boy. 

Gale.     Among  the  ladies,  a  state  of  excitement ;  as,  "  Mrs.  A was  in 

quite  a  gale  on  New  Year's  Day." 

The  ladies,  laughing  heartily,  were  fast  getting  into  what,  in  New  England,  is 
sometimes  called  a.  gale. — Brooke,  Eastford. 

Gall.  1.  A  kind  of  low  land  in  Florida.  It  consists  of  a  matted  soil  of 
vegetable  fibres,  spongy  and  treacherous  to  the  foot,  unpleasant  as  well 
as  dangerous  to  crop.  —  Vignoles,  Florida,  p.  91. 

Mr.  S.,  living  near  the  Oclawaha,  while  crossing  a  bay  gall,  or  saw  grass,  in  com- 
pany with  his  son,  last  Wednesday,  was  seriously  injured  by  the  attack  of  an  alli- 
gator.   The  water  in  the  gaU  was  about  knee  deep.  —  East  Florida  Paper. 

■  2.  (Ger.  qualle.)  A  name  applied  by  the  New  York  children  to  the 
jelly-fishes.  The  medusae,  or  sea-nettles  (Discophora),  they  call  sting- 
ing galls .  (called  also  in  some  parts  of  England  stang -fishes).    The 


m  GAL— GAN 

ovoidal  phosphorescent  jelly-fishes    (Otenophora)  they  call  lightning- 
galls. 

Gallinipper.  An  insect  pest  at  the  South  resembhng  a  mosquito,  but 
much  larger. 

Gallows.     Showy,  dashing.     New  York  slang. 

Mose.    Lizzy,  you  're  a  gallus  gal,  any  how  ! 

Lizzy.     I  ain't  nothin'  else.  —  A  Glance  at  Neio  York. 

On  another  occasion,  Mose  goes  off  in  raptures  at  the  personal  appear- 
ance and  many  accomplishments  of  his  sweetheart,  and  exclaims : 

"  Look,  what  a  gallus  walk  she  's  got.  I  've  strong  suspicions  I  '11  have  to  get 
slung  to  her  one  of  these  days." 

Gallowses.  Suspenders,  braces.  They  are  also  so  called  in  some  parts 
of  England. 

His  skilts  [pantaloons]  were  supported  by  no  braces  or  galhwses,  and  resting  on 
his  hips.  —  Margaret,  p.  9. 

Gam.    a  social  visit.     A  seafaring  term. 

When  two  whalers  meet  in  any  of  the  whaling  grounds,  it  is  usual  to  have  a  gam, 
or  mutual  visit,  for  the  purpose  of  interchanging  the  latest  news,  comparing  reck- 
oning, discussing  the  prospect  of  whales,  and  enjoying  a  general  chit-chat.  — 
Browne's  Whaling  Cruise,  p.  76. 

Gambkel.  a  hipped  roof  to  a  house,  so  called  from  its  resemblance  to 
the  hind  leg  of  a  horse,  which  by  farriers  is  termed  a  gambrel. 

Here  and  there  was  a  house  in  the  then  new  style,  thi'ee  cornered,  with  gambrdkd 
roof  and  dormer  windows.  — Margaret,  p.  33. 

Gander-pulling.  A  brutal  species  of  amusement  practised  in  Nova 
Scotia.  It  is  also  known  at  the  South.  We  quote  Judge  Halliburton's 
account  of  it  from  the  Sayings  and  Doings  of  Sam  Slick  :  — 

"  But  describe  this  gander-pulling." 

"  Well,  I  '11  tell  you  how  it  is,"  sais  I.  "  First  and  foremost,  a  ring-road  is 
formed,  like  a  small  race-course ;  then  two  great  long  posts  is  fixed  into  the  ground, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  a  rope  made  fast  by  the  ecnds  to  each  post,  leavin' 
the  middle  of  the  rope  to  hang  loose  in  a  curve.  Well,  then  they  take  a  gander 
and  pick  his  breast  as  clean  as  a  baby's,  and  then  grease  it  most  beautiful  all  the 
way  from  the  breast  to  the  head,  till  it  becomes  as  slippery  as  a  soaped  eel.  Then 
they  tie  both  his  legs  together  with  a  strong  piece  of  cord,  of  the  size  of  a  halyard, 
and  hang  him  by  the  feet  to  the  middle  of  the  swingin'  rope,  with  his  head  down- 
ward. All  the  youngsters,  all  round  the  country,  come  to  see  the  sport,  mounted  a 
horseback. 

"  Well,  the  owner  of  the  goose  goes  round  with  his  hat,  and  gets  so  much  a-piece 
in  it  from  every  one  that  enters  for  the  '  PuUin;'  and  when  all  have  entered,  they 
bring  their  horses  in  a  line,  one  arter  another,  and  at  the  words,  '  Go  a-head  ! '  off 
they  set,  as  hard  as  they  can  split ;  and  as  they  pass  under  the  goose,  make  a  grab 
at  him,  and  whoever  carries  off  the  head  wins. 


GAP  — GAT  167 

"  "Well,  the  goose  dodges  his  head  and  flaps  his  wings,  and  swings  about  so,  it 
aint  no  easy  matter  to  clutch  his  neck ;  and  when  you  do,  it 's  so  greassy,  it  slips 
right  through  the  fingers  like  nothin'.  Sometimes  it  takes  so  long,  that  the  horses 
are  fairly  beat  out,  and  can't  scarcely  raise  a  gallop  ;  and  then  a  man  stands  by  the 
post,  with  a  heavy  loaded  whip,  to  lash  'em  on,  so  that  they  may  n't  stand  under  the 
goose,  which  aint  fair.  The  whoopin',  and  hollerin',  and  screamin',  and  bettin',  and 
excitement,  beats  all ;  there  aint  hardly  no  sport  equal  to  it.  It  is  great  fun  to  all 
except  the  po6r  goosey-gander." 

Gap.  1.  This  pure  English  word  is  used  properly  of  any  breach  of  con- 
tinuity, as  of  the  line  of  a  saw's  edge,  or  of  the  line  of  a  mountain,  as 
projected  on  the  horizon.  Hence  it  is  applied  to  such  openings  in  a 
mountain  as  are  made  by  a  river,  or  even  a  high  road.  Thus  the  Water- 
Gap ;  and,  in  Virginia,  Brown's  Gap,  Rockfish  Gap,  etc. 

2.  An  opening  in  a  fence.     A  Slip  gap  is  a  place  pi'ovided  in  a  fence, 
where  the  bars  may  be  slipped  aside  and  let  down. 

Gak  ;  also  Alligator  Gar.  A  species  of  pike  found  in  the  southern  rivers. 
It  grows  to  a  large  size,  and  has  been  known  to  fight  with  the  alligator. 

Garden  City.     Chicago  ;  so  called  from  the  number  of  its  gardens. 

Garden  Spot.  A  term  applied  to  the  rich  Silurian  limestone  region  in 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

So  characteristic  are  the  agricultural  peculiarities  stamped  upon  the  surface  of 
every  county,  that  it  has  given  rise  to  that  generally  recognized  division  of  the 
State  known  as  the  "  Blue  Grass  "  county  of  Kentucky,  justly  celebrated  for  its 
fertility  and  consequent  wealth.  The  unbroken  tracts  lying  towards  the  heads  of 
the  streams  are  indeed  the  "  Garden  Spots  "  of  the  State.  "We  even  hear  the  in- 
habitants of  this  part  of  Kentucky  frequently  styled  "  Blue-grass  men  "  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  "Mountain  men,"  residents  of  the  adjacent  hill  and  mountain 
country.  — Owen's  Geology  of  Kentucky. 

Garrison.  At  the  West  the  term  is  oftener  applied  to  the  post  itself  than 
to  those  who  hold  it.  Thus  old,  empty,  and  deserted  forts,  those  that 
have  been  actually  abandoned,  and  are  devoted  to  decay,  are  almost  uni- 
versally styled  the  "  garrisons,"  even  though  a  soldier  had  not  put  a  foot 
in  them  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  —  J.  Fennimore  Cooper. 

Gat,  or  Gate.  (Dutch,  gai,  a  hole,  gap.)  A  narrow  passage ;  a  strait.  A 
term  applied  to  several  places  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  as  Barnegat, 
and  HeU-Gate  (formerly  HeUe-gat).  As  respects  this  latter  name,  Mr. 
Irving,  in  a  note  to  his  Ejiickerbocker  (chap,  iv.),  remarks  : 

Certain  mealy  mouthed  men  of  squeamish  consciences,  who  are  loth  to  give  the 
devil  his  due,  have  softened  the  above  characteristic  name  to  Hurl-gate,  forsooth  ! 
Let  those  take  care  how  they  venture  into  the  Gate,  or  they  may  be  hurled  into  the 
Pot  before  they  are  aware  of  it.  The  name  of  this  strait,  as  given  by  our  author, 
is  supported  by  the  map  in  Vander  Donck's  History,  published  in  1656  —  by  Ogil- 
Ty's  History  of  America,  1671 — as  also  by  a  journal  still  extant,  written  in  the 


168  GAT— GEE 

16th  centuiy,  and  to  be  found  in  Hazard's  State  Papers.  And  an  old  MS.  ■written 
in  French,  speaking  of  various  alterations  in  names  about  this  city,  observes,  "  De 
Helle-gat,  Trou  d'Enfer,  ils  ont  fait  Hell-gate,  Porte  d'Enfer." 

To  Gather.  (Pron.  gether.)  Universally  used  in  the  West  for  to  take 
up ;  as,  "  I  gathered  a  stick." 

To  Gaum.  To  smear.  "  Put  the  child's  apron  on,  and  don't  let  her  gaum 
herself  all  over  with  molasses."     Local  in  England. 

Gavel.  (Fr.  javelle.)  A  quantity  of  grain  sufficient  to  make  a  sheaf. 
This  old  word,  which  is  in  use  in  the  east  of  England,  is  now  very  fre- 
quently employed  in  describing  the  operation  of  American  reaping  ma- 
chines. 

General  Assembly.  A  representative  body  having  legislative  powers, 
and  authorized  to  enact  laws  in  behalf  of  some  community,  church,  or 
State. —  Worcester. 

General  Court.    A  legislative  body.  —  Worcester. 

General  Treat.  A  general  treat  is  a  treat  of  a  glass  of  liquor  given  by 
a  person  in  a  tavern  to  the  whole  company  present. 

I  nearly  got  myself  into  a  difficulty  with  my  new  acquaintances  by  handing  the 
landlord  a  share  of  the  reckoning,  for  having  presumed  to  pay  a  part  of  a  general 
treat  while  laboring  under  the  disqualification  of  being  a  stranger.  —  Hoffman,  p. 
211. 

Gentiles.  The  name  given  by  the  Mormons  to  all  who  are  not  of  their 
faith. 

Gentleman  Turkey.  A  turkey  cock.  The  mock  modesty  of  the  West- 
ern States  requires  that  a  male  turkey  should  be  so  called. 

I  remember,  in  my  younger  days,  to  have  been  put  in  a  state  of  bodily  peril  by  a 
pugnacious  gentleman  turkey  who  took  umbrage  at  a  flaming  red  and  yellow  silk  that 
constituted  my  apparel.  —  Adventures  of  Capt.  Priest,  p.  111. 

"  This  is  a  tough  old  fellow,"  remarked  a  gentleman  on  board  a  Mississippi 
steamboat  who  was  endeavoring  to  carve  a  large  turkey. 

"  Wall,  I  kind  o'  think  you  're  right,  stranger,"  said  a  Hooshier  opposite.  "  But 
I  reckon  it 's  a  gentleman  turkey."  —  Western  Sketches. 

Gerrymandering.  Arranging  the  political  divisions  of  a  State  so  that, 
in  an  election,  one  party  may  obtain  an  advantage  over  its  opponent,  even 
though  the  latter  may  possess  a  majority  of  the  votes  in  the  State.  This 
term  came  into  use  in  the  year  1811  in  Massachusetts,  where,  for 
several  years  previous,  the  Federal  and  Democratic  parties  stood  nearly 
equal.  In  that  year  the  Democratic  party,  having  a  majority  in  the 
legislature,  determiaed  so  to  district  the  State  anew,  that  those  sections 
which  gave  a  large  number  of  Federal  votes  might  be  brought  into  one 
district.    The  result  was  that  the  Democratic  party  carried  every  thing 


GET— GIN  169 

before  them  at  the  following  election,  and  filled  every  office  in  the  State, 
although  it  appeared  by  the  votes  returned  that  nearly  two  thirds  of  the 
voters  were  Federalists.  Elbridge  Gerry,  a  distinguished  politician  of 
that  period,  was  the  instigator  of  this  plan,  which  was  called  gerryman- 
dering after  him. 

To  Get  Religion.  To  become  pious ;  a  term  in  common  use  among  cer- 
tain religious  sects. 

Stranger,  I  can't  bear  to  think  of  the  murder  of  Charley  Bu-kham  now  ;  but  when 
I  heard  it  the  first  time,  it  was  jest  arter  I  got  religion.  I  could  n't  help  it  —  I  swore 
jest  nigh  on  to  half  an  hour  right  straight  on  eend.  —  Frontier  Incident.  N.  Y. 
Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Capt.  Underbill  killed  his  neighbor's  wife,  and  got  his  religion  on  a  pipe  of  to- 
bacco.— Elliot's  New  England  Hist.  Vol.  I.  p.  460. 

To  Get  one's  Back  up.  To  get  excited,  become  enraged.  A  figurative 
expression  drawn  from  the  attitude  of  a  cat,  which,  when  angry,  raises  up 
her  back  as  well  as  her  hair. 

Get  out  !     A  New  England  expression,  equivalent  to  let  me  alone. 

To  Get  round.    To  get  the  better  of,  take  advantage  of  one. 

One  from  the  land  of  cakes  sought  to  get  round  a  right  smart  Yankee,  but  couldn't 
shine.  —  Ruxton,  Life  in  the  Far  West,  p.  89. 

To  Get  the  wrong  Pig  by  the  Tail,  is  to  make  a  mistake  in  select- 
ing a  person  for  any  object.  This  is  also  called  getting  the  wrong  sow  hy 
the  ear. 

I  did  not  seek  the  oflBce  I  have  now,  and  was  not  at  the  meeting  when  I  was 
elected ;  but  the  Whigs  supposed  they  could  by  some  means  make  me  a  traitor  to 
my  party.  But,  sir,  as  the  old  saying  is,  they  got  the  wrong  pig  by  the  tail.  —  Letter  of 
Mr.  a  C.Bell.  ict uJi^ f 

G'hal.    a  slang  term  for  girl^  corresponding  to  B'hoy,  which  see.  '^^ 

If  you  would  see  the  B'hoy  in  his  glory — at  the  top  of  his  career — in  the  ne  plus 
ultra  of  his  mundane  state  —  you  must  see  him  taking  a  drive  with  his  g'hal  on  the 
avenue.  —  New  York  in  Slices. 

Gilead  Fir.     See  Balsam  Fir. 

GiMBAL-jAWED  Or  JiMBER-jAWED.  One  whosc  lowcr  jaw  is  loose  and 
projecting. 

Gin.  (g  hard.)  A  contraction  for  given,  also  used  vulgarly  for  gave  ;  as, 
"  He  gin  me  a  crack  side  of  the  head." 

Gin  and  tidy.    Neatly  dressed ;  spruce. 

What  women  happened  to  be  there  were  very  ^'n  and  tidy  in  the  work  of  their 
own  hands,  which  made  them  look  tempting  in  the  eyes  of  us  foresters.  —  Westover 
Papers,  p.  119. 

15 


170  "  GIR— GO 

To  Girdle.  In  America,  to  make  a  circular  incision,  like  a  belt, 
through  the  bark  and  alburnum  of  a  tree  to  kill  it. —  Webste7'.  Set- 
tlers in  new  countries  often  adopt  this  method  to  clear  their  land; 
for  when  the  trees  are  dead  they  set  them  on  fire,  and  thus  save  them- 
selves the  trouble  of  chopping  them  down  with  the  axe;  the  place  so 
cleared  is  thence  called  a  girdling. 

The  emigrants  purchase  a  lot  or  two  of  gOTemment  land,  build  a  log  house,  fence 
a  dozen  acres  or  so,  plough  half  of  them,  girdle  the  ti'ees,  and  then  sell  out  to  a  new- 
comer. —  Mrs.  Clavers,  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I. 

Girdling.    A  place  where  the  trees  are  girdled.    See  the  preceding  word. 

Gist.  The  main  point  of  a  question  or  action ;  that  on  which  it  lies  or 
turns.  —  Jamieson.  A  word  introduced  from  the  language  of  law  into 
very  common  use. 

Given  Name.  The  Christian  name,  or  name  that  is  given  to  a  person,  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  surname,  which  is  not  given,  but  inherited.  Cob- 
bett  calls  it  a  Scotticism. ,  It  was  probably  introduced  by  the  Puritans 
instead  of  "  Saint's  name,"  or  "  Christian  name." 

GiVT.  A  term  appHed  to  tobacco  leaves,  in  a  certain  condition  of  their 
preparation  for  market. 

Glade.    In  New  England,  smooth  ice. 

Glades.  Everglades ;  tracts  of  land  at  the  South  covered  with  water  and 
grass.  So  called  in  Maryland,  where  they  are  divided  into  wet  and  dry 
glades. 

To  Glimpse.    To  get  a  glimpse  of;  as,  "  I  barely  glimpsed  him." 

Glut.  A  thick  wooden  wedge  used  in  splitting  blocks.  —  HalUwell.  So 
also  in  New  England. 

To  Go  ahead.  To  go  forward,  proceed.  A  seaman's  phrase,  which  has 
got  into  very  common  use. 

I  was  tired  out  and  wanted  a  day  to  rest;  but,  my  face  being  turned  towards 
"Washington,  I  thought  I  had  better  go  ahead.  —  Crockett,  Tour  down  East,  p.  101. 

We  slip  on  a  pair  of  India  rubber  boots,  genuine  and  impenetrable,  and  go  ahead 
without  fear.  —  N.  Y.  Com.  Advertiser. 

The  specific  instructions  to  conquer  and  hold  California  were  issued  to  Commo- 
dore Sloat,  by  Mr.  Bancroft,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1846.  Previous  to  this,  howeyer, 
he  had  been  officially  notified  that  war  existed,  and  briefly  instructed  to  "go  ahead." — 
Ibid.  June  13. 

My  dear  hearers ;  the  good  work  shall  go  on.  I  will  preach  in  spite  of  Old  Nick ; 
the  steam  is  up  and  I  will  go  ahead.  Backed  by  sound  doctrines,  I  will  square  off 
to  opposition  —  shoot  folly  —  take  a  hug  with  sin — upset  infidelity — lick  Satan  out 
of  the  land,  and  kidnap  his  imps. — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  III.  p.  17. 


GO— GO  171 

Go   AHEAD,     Rapidly  advancing,  progressive. 

In  our  opinion,  which  we  express,  of  course,  with  our  wonted  and  characteristic 
diffidence,  America  is  a  dashing,  go-ahead,  and  highly  progressive  country,  giving  by 
her  institutions  and  enormous  growth  the  solution  of  the  greatest  political  problem 
in  the  world.  —  The  (Philad.)  Press,  July  24,  1858. 

Go-AHEADATiVENESS.     Spirit  of  process,  progressiveness. 

The  Merchants  Magazine  justly  thinks,  that,  in  the  present  complication  of  Euro- 
pean difficulties,  a  favorable  opportunity  opens  for  the  natural  activity  and  go-aheada- 
tiveness  of  our  American  business  men.  —  N.  York  Times,  May  17,  1855. 

To  Go  BT.  To  call ;  to  stop  at.  Used  in  the  Southern  States.  —  Sher- 
wood's Georgia.  IVIr,  Pickering  says  this  singular  expression  is  often 
used  at  the  South.  "  WiU  you  go  hy  and  dine  with  me  ?  "  i.  e.,  in  passing 
my  house  will  you  stop  and  dine  ?  "  Its  origin,"  observes  Mr.  Pickering, 
"  is  very  natural.  When  a  gentleman  is  about  riding  a  great  distance 
through  that  country,  where  there  are  few  great  roads  and  the  houses  or 
plantations  are  often  two  or  three  mUes  from  them,  a  friend  living  near 
his  route  asks  him  to  go  hy  his  plantation  and  dine  or  lodge  with  him." 

To  Go  A  Cruise.  To  take  a  ride  or  walk.  An  expression  borrowed 
from  the  sea,  much  used  in  some  of  the  seaports  of  New  England,  and 
particularly  in  Nantucket. 

Go  TO  Grass  !    Be  off !  get  out ! 

To  Go  FOR.  1.  To  be  in  favor  of.  Thus,  "  I  go  for  peace  with  Mexico," 
means  I  am  in  favor  of  peace  with  Mexico,  or,  as  an  EngUshman  would 
say,  I  am  for  peace  with  Mexico.  This  vulgar  idiom  is  greatly  affected 
by  political  and  other  pubhc  speakers,  who  ought  to  be  the  guardians  of 
the  purity  of  the  language,  instead  of  its  most  indefatigable  cori'upters.  In 
the  following  extract  from  a  so-caUed  rehgious  paper,  the  reader  of  correct 
taste  and  feeling  wiU  hardly  know  which  to  admire  most,  the  sentiment  or 
the  language : 

"Will  Mr.  Greeley  say  that  he  or  any  other  citizen  has  the  right  to  oppose  "  the 
country  "  —  that  is,  its  laws  —  whenever  he  or  they  shall  choose  to  pronounce  them 
"  wrong  ■?  "  "We  say,  go  for  your  country  —  right,  as  she  may  be  in  some  things  — 
wrong  as  she  is,  perhaps,  in  others  ;  but  whether  right  or  wrong,  or  right  and  wrong 
(which  is  always  nearer  the  truth  in  all  her  proceedings),  still,  go  for  your  country.  — 
Gospel  Banner. 

2.  To  decide  in  favor  of,  is  another  acceptation  in  which  this  phrase  is 
often  used,  especially  in  stating  for  which  man  or  measure  any  particular 
section  of  the  country  has  decided,  as,  "  Ohio  has  gone  for  Clay,"  "  Louisi- 
ana has  gone  for  the  annexation  of  Mexico."  Or  still  worse,  "  Ohio  has 
gone  Whig,"  "  Louisiana  has  gone  Loco-foco." 

To  Go  IN  FOB.    To  advocate,  be  in  favor  of. 


172  GO— GO 

We  go  in  for  all  the  postage  redaction  President  Taylor  recommends.  —  New 
York  Tribune,  Dec.  25,  1849. 

To  Go  IT  Blind.     To  accede  to  any  object  without  due  consideration. 
I  know  what  I  am  at,  and  don't  go  it  blind.  — S.  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  18. 

To  Go  IT  WITH  A  Looseness,  is  to  act  in  an  unrestrained,  rash,  head- 
strong manner.     See  Looseness.     So  also  "  to  go  it  with  a  rush." 

To  Go  IT  Strong.  To  act  vigorously ;  to  advocate  energetically ;  to  live 
freely. 

President  Polk  in  his  message  goes  it  strong  for  the  Sub-Treasury. — N.  Y.  Tribune. 
The  senate  has  of  late  years  refused  to  take  any  part  of  the  book  plunder,  but 
they  have  gone  it  strong  on  the  mileage.  —  Letters  from  Washington,  N.   Y.  Com. 
Advertiser. 

I  would  have  you  understand,  my  dear  hearers,  that  I  have  no  objection  to  some 
of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  earth  going  it  wliile  they  are  young,  provided  they 
don't  I/O  it  too  strong. — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  176. 

To  Go  one's  Death  on  a  thing,  is  equivalent  to  "  lay  one's  life  "  on  it. 

To  GO  the  Big  Figure.     To  do  things  on  a  large  scale. 

Why,  our  senators  go  the  big  figure  on  fried  oysters  and  whiskey  punch.  — Burton, 

Waggeries. 

To  Go  THE  Whole  Figure.  To  go  to  the  fullest  extent  in  the  attain- 
ment of  any  object. 

Go  the  whole  figure  for  religious  liberty;  it  has  no  meanin'  here,  where  all  are  free, 
but  it 's  a  cant  word  and  sounds  well.  —  Sam  Slick. 

"If  you  go  the  whole  figure  on  temperance,"  said  Mrs.  Mudlaw,  in  giving  her  re- 
ceipt for  pudding  sauce,  "  then  some  other  flavorin'  must  be  used  instead  of  brandy 
or  wine." —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  377. 

Suppose  we  keep  thanksgivin'  to  home  this  year,  and  invite  all  our  whole  grist  of 
cousins  and  aunts  and  things  —  go  the  whole  figure  and  do  the  genteel  thing.  — 
McClintock's  Tales. 

To  GO  THE  Whole  Hog.     A  Western  vulgarism,  meaning  to  do  a  thing 
out  and  out.     A  softened  form  of  the  phrase  is  To  go  the  entire  animal. 
Of  the  congressional  and  State  tickets  we  can  only  form  a  conjecture ;  but  the 
probability  is  that  the  Democrats  have  carried  the  whole,  for  they  generally  go  the 
whole  hog  —  they  never  scratch  or  split  differences.  — Newspaper. 

The  phrase  has  been  caught  up  by  some  English  writers. 

The  Tiger  has  leapt  up  heart  and  soul. 

It 's  clear  that  he  means  to  go  the  whole 

Hog,  in  his  hungry  efforts  to  seize 

The  two  defianceful  Bengalese.  — New  Tale  of  a  Tub. 

To  Go  OFF.    To  expire. 

"  0  Mr.  Crane !  "  said  the  Widow  Bedott,  "  I  thought  I  should  go  off  last  night 


GO  — GON  173 

whea  I  see  that  old  critter  squeeze  up  and  hook  on  to  you.     Terrible  impudent 
—  wam't  it? —  Widow  Bedott's  Papers,  p.  77. 

To  GO  THROUGH  THE  MiLL.  To  acquire  experience,  and  especially  to 
meet  with  difficulties,  losses,  etc.  The  metaphor  is  derived  from  grain 
which  has  undergone  the  process  of  grinding. 

The  now  common  phrase,  "  To  see  the  elephant,"  conveys  the  same 
meaning. 

To  Go  UNDER.  To  perish.  An  expression  adopted  from  the  figurative 
language  of  the  Indians  by  the  Western  trappers  and  residents  of  the 
prau'ies. 

Thar  was  old  Sam  Owins  —  him  as  got  rubbed  out  by  the  Spaniards  at  Sacra- 
mento or  Cluhualiua,  this  boss  does  n't  know  which,  but  he  went  under  any  how.  — 
Ruxton,  Life  in  the  Far  West,  p.  14. 

Being  entirely  naked,  there  was  no  sign  left  by  dripping  garments  to  betray  him  ; 
besides,  the  blood  upon  the  water  had  proved  his  friend.  On  seeing  that,  the  hunters 
were  under  the  full  belief  that  he  had  "gone  under,"  and  therefore  took  but  little 
pains  to  search  further. —  Capt.  Mayne  Reid,  Osceola,  p.  192. 

Gobbler.     A  male  turkey ;  a  turkey-cock. 

It  was  a  nice  weddin' ;  sich  raisins  and  oranges  and  hams,  flour  doins  and  chicken 
fixins,  and  four  sich  oncommon  big  gobblers  roasted,  I  never  seed.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of 
the  Times. 

Going.  Travelling ;  as,  "  The  going  is  bad,  owing  to  the  deep  snow  in  the 
roads." 

Golly  !     Used  euphemistically  for  "  God ! "  chiefly  by  negroes  in  swearing. 

I  went  down  to  the  spring  branch  one  morning  to  wash.  I  looked  into  the  water, 
and  I  seen  the  shadow  of  my  face.  Great  Golhj!  how  I  run  back,  hollerin'  for 
mammy  every  jump. —  Widow  Baghy's  Husband. 

GoMBO,  or  Gumbo.  1.  The  Southern  name  for  what  is  called,  at  the  North, 
Okra,  the  pod  of  the  Hibiscus  esculentus. 

2.   In  the  southern  States,  a  soup  in  which  this  plant  enters  largely  as 
an  ingredient. 

Gondola.  A  flat-bottomed  boat  or  scow  used  in  New  England.  — 
Pickering. 

In  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  this  word  is  spelled  as  well  as  pro- 
nounced gundalo  or  gundelow.     Comp.  cupalo.' 

Gone  Coon.  "  He  's  a  gone  coon  "  is  ^  Western  phrase,  meaning  that  a 
man  is  past  recovery,  that  his  case  is  hopeless. 

Bill  was  never  one  minit  unwatched,  awake  or  asleep ;  he  was  n't  allowed  to 
speak,  although  he  was  fed  and  not  abused,  and  he  'd  pretty  much  made  up  his 
mind  that  he  was  a  gone  coon.  —  Spirit  of  the  Times. 
15* 


174  GON  — GOO 

Gone  Goose.  "  It's  a  gone  goose  with  him,"  means  that  he  is  lost,  is  past 
recovery.  The  phrase  is  a  vulgarism  in  New  England,  In  New  York 
it  is  said, "  He's  a  gone  gander,"  i.  e.  a  lost  man  ;  and  in  the  "West,  "  He 's  a 
gone  coon." 

If  a  bear  comes  after  yon,  Sam,  you  must  be  up  and  doin',  or  it 's  a  gone  goose 
with  you.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  eh.  18. 

It  may  be  the  doctor  can  do  something  for  her,  though  she  looks  to  me  as  though 
it  was  a  gone  goose  with  her.  —  Major  Downing,  p.  87. 

I've  generally  noticed  if  a  man  begins  to  gape  in  church  at  seventhly  and  eighthly 
in  the  sermon,  it's  a  gone  goose  with  him  before  he  gets  through  the  tenthly ;  from  that 
up  he 's  as  dead  as  a  door  nail.  —  Seha  Smith,  Yankee  Life. 

The  poor  greenhorn  who  falls  into  the  clutches  of  the  sharpers  upon  arriving  in 
the  metropolis  may  regard  himself  as  a  gone  gosling.  —  New  York  Paper. 

Goneness.  A  peculiar  sensation  of  weakness,  or  of  great  depression.  A 
woman's  word. 

Goner.  "  He  's  a  goner"  means  he  is  lost,  is  past  recovery,  is  utterly  de- 
molished, "  used  up  ;  "  synonymous  with  gone  goose,  gone  coon,  etc.  So 
in  the  West,  a  bad  debt  is  called  a  goner.  A  Western  sportsman  in 
pursuit  of  a  deer,  exclaims : 

Aha !  my  fine  boy !  you  are  our  meat !  Put  in  your  biggest  licks  ;  for  you  are  a 
goner,  now,  for  sartin !  — New  York  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Gone  with,  for  become  of.  "  What  is  gone  with  it  or  him,"  for  What 
has  become  of  it  or  him  ?  —  Sherwood's  Georgia. 

Goney  or  GoNT.  A  great  goose,  a  stupid  fellow.  New  England.  Pro- 
vincial in  Gloucestershire,  England. 

"  How  the  goney  swallowed  it  all,  did  n't  he  ?  "  said  Mr.  Slick,  with  great  glee.  — 
Slick  in  England,  ch.  21. 

Some  on  'em  were  fools  enough  to  believe  the  goney ;  that 's  a  fact.  —  Ibid. 

Formerly,  they  poked  sap-headed  goneys  into  parliament,  to  play  dummy ;  or 
into  the  army  and  navy,  the  church,  and  the  colonial  office.  But  clever  fellows 
•they  kept  for  the  law,  the  "  Times,"  etc.  — Nature  and  Human  Nature,  p.  142. 

CrONUS.  A  stupid  fellow.  A  student's  modification  of  goney,  used  in  some 
of  our  colleges,  according  to  Mr.  Hall. 

One  day  I  heard  a  Senior  call  a  fellow  a  gonus.  "  Gonus,"  echoed  I,  "  what  does 
4hat  mean  ■*  "  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  you  're  a  Freshman,  and  don't  understand.  A 
stupid  fellow,  a  dolt,  a  boot-jack,  an  ignoramus,  is  here  called  a  gonus."  "All 
Freshmen,"  he  continued  gravely,  "  are  gonuses."  —  The  Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV.  p. 
116. 

Good.  Enghsh  travellers  have  repeatedly  noticed  the  adverbial  use  of 
this  word.  "  He  cannot  read  good."  "  It  does  not  shoot  good."  The 
expression,  "  it  is  no  good,"  meaning  it  is  worthless,  though  condemned 


GOO  — GOP  175 

by  many,  may  perhaps  be  justified  by  the  analogous  phrase,  "  it  'a  no 
use." 
Good  as  Wheat.    A  phrase  sometimes  used  instead  of  the  more  general 
one,  "  good  as  gold." 

Check-mated.  —  It  is  stated  that  the  father  of  a  lady  in  tliis  vicinity  recently 
presented  her  with  a  check  —  "good  as  wheat"  —  for  $30,000,  in  view  of  her  matri- 
monial alliance.  Truly,  such  a  cJieck-eved  life  as  that  would  n't  be  hard  to  lead. 
"We  wish  somebody  would  endeavor  to  "check"  our  career  in  that  way. — New 
Bedford  Standard,  Aug.  1858. 

Goodies.  Sweetmeats,  cakes,  etc. ;  as,  a  box  of  goodies.  Provincial  in 
Suffolk,  England. 

Arter  a  while  the  kissin'  an  foolin'  was  all  over,  an  we  pitched  into  the  goodies ; 
an  ef  ever  I  saw  sweetnins  fly,  it  was  then.  —  How  Sal  and  Me  got  Married. 

Goods.  This  word  is  used  by  "Western  shopkeepers'  as  a  singular  noun 
for  a  piece  of  goods  ;  as,  "  that  goods"  speaking  of  cloth  or  linen. 

Goose.  " To  be  sound  on  the  goose"  or  " all  right  on  the  goose"  is  a 
South-western  phrase,  meaning  to  be  orthodox  on  the  slavery  question, 
i.  e.  pro-slavery.  Although  it  only  got  into  general  use  during  the  re- 
cent Kansas  troubles,  I  am  not  able  to  give  its  origin. 

The  border  ruffians  held  a  secret  meeting  in  Leavenworth,  and  appointed  them- 
selves a  vigilance  conmiittee.  All  persons  who  could  not  answer  "all  right  on  the 
goose,"  according  to  their  definition  of  right,  were  searched,  kept  under  guard,  and 
threatened  with  death.  —  Mrs.  Robinson's  Kansas,  p.  252. 

A  poetical  writer  in  the  Providence  Journal,  in  speaking  of  the  claims 
of  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  mayor,  says : 
To  seek  for  political  flaws  is  no  use. 
His  opponents  will  find  he  is  "  sound  on  the  goose."  — June  18,  1857. 

Goose-Fish.     See  Devil-Fish. 

To  Goose  Boots.  To  repair  them  by  putting  on  a  new  front  halfway 
up,  and  a  new'bottom. 

Gopher.  1.  In  Georgia,  a  species  of  land  turtle,  burrowing  in  the 
ground  in  the  low  country.  It  is  able  to  walk  with  a  heavy  man  on  its 
back.  —  Sherwood's  Georgia. 

2.  A  little  animal  found  in  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri 
rivers.  A  species  of  mole,  more  than  twice  the  size  of  the  common  field 
mole.  It  burrows  in  the  prairies,  and  there  are  immense  tracts  covered 
with  the  little  hillocks  made  by  the  ekrth  which  they  have  dug  from  their 
burrows.  —  Flint's  Geogr.  of  Miss.  Valley. 

The  gopher  often  burrows  in  the  artificial  tumuli,  to  find  a  dry  place  for  its  nest ; 
and  roots  of  trees  penetrate  to  their  lowest  depths.  —  Lapham's  Antiq.  of.  Wisconsin, 
p.  48. 


176  GOS  — GOU 

Mr.  Bryant,  in  alluding  to  the  same  fact,  says  : 
The  gopher  mines  the  ground 
Where  stood  the  swarming  cities.    All  is  gone ; 
All  save  the  piles  of  earth  that  hold  their  bones. 

Gosh.     Used  in  the  euphemistic  form  of  oath,  hy  Gosh  ! 

Gospel  Lot.  A  lot  set  apart  in  new  townships  for  a  church,  on  the  same 
principle  as  a  school  lot.     New  York. 

Gotham.  The  city  of  New  York,  an  appellation  first  given  to  it  in  "  Sal- 
magundi," evidently  from  the  singular  wisdom  attributed  to  its  inhab- 
itants. 

Ye  dandies  of  Gotham ;  I  've  seen  fools  and  fops  in  forty  different  cities,  but  none 
to  compare  with  you.  —  Daw's  Sermons. 

GOTHAMiTES.     The  people  of  the  city  of  New  York ;  the  New  Yorkers. 
I  intended  to  present  you  with  some  phases  of  outward  life  and  manners,  —  such 
things  as  would  strike  or  interest  a  stranger  in  our  beloved  Gotham,  and  in  the 
places  to  which  regular  Gothamites  —  American  cockneys,  so  to  speak  —  are  wont 
to  repair.  —  Sketches  of  American  Society,  Frazer's  Magazine. 

Gouge.     A  cheat,  fraud,  robbery. 

R and  H will  probably  receive  from  Mr.  Polk's  administration  $100,000 

more  than  respectable  printers  would  have  done  the  work  for.  There  is  a  clean 
plain  ^row^e  of  this  sum  out  of  the  people's  strong  box. — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Dec.  10, 
1845. 

If  the  people  of  Mr.  I 's  district  see  fit  to  indorse  and  justify  his  enormous 

,  gouge,  and  his  more  profligate  defence  of  it,  they  virtually  make  it  their  own.  —  New 
\  York  Herald. 

To  Gouge.     1.  To  chouse;  to  cheat. 

Very  well,  gentlemen !  gouge  Mr.  Crosby  out  of  the  seat,  if  you  think  it  whole- 
some to  do  it.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Nov.  26,  1845. 

2.  "  Gouging  is  performed  by  twisting  the  forefinger  in  a  lock  of  hair, 
near  the  temple,  and  turning  the  eye  out  of  the  socket  with  the  thumb- 
nail, which  is  sufiered  to  grow  long  for  that  purpose."  —  Lambert's  Trav- 
els, Vol.  II.  p.  300. 

This  practice  is  only  known  by  hearsay  at  the  North  and  East,  and 
appears  to  have  existed  at  no  time  except  among  the  lower  class  of  peo- 
ple in  the  interior  of  some  of  the  Southern  States.  An  instance  has  not 
been  heard  of  for  years.  Grose  has  the  word  in  his  Dictionary  of  the 
Vulgar  Tongue,  and  defines  it  as  "  a  cruel  custom,  practised  by  the  Bos- 
tonians  in  America ! " 

Mr.  Weld  found  this  custom  prevaihng  in  Virginia  in  1796.  In  speak- 
ing of  liis  visit  to  Richmond,  he  says : 

"Whenever  these  people  come  to  blows,  they  fight  like  wild  beasts,  biting,  kicking, 


GOV— GRA  177 

and  endeavoring  to  tear  out  each  other's  eyes  with  their  nails.    It  is  by  no  means 
uncommon  to  meet  with  those  who  have  lost  an  eye  in  combat,  and  there  are  men 
who  pride  themselves  upon  the  dexterity  with  which  they  can  scoop  one  out.     This 
they  call  gouging.  —  Travels  in  North  America,  p.  143. 
"  Gouge  him,  B — t !  dam  ye,  gouge  him  ; 
Gouge  him  while  he  's  on  the  shore  !  " 
And  his  thumbs  were  straightway  buried 
"Where  no  thumbs  had  pierced  before. 

Bon  Gaultier,  Ballads. 

A  man  who  was  paying  his  addresses  to  a  Western  belle,  found  one 
day  another  suitor,  of  whom  he  thus  speaks : 

I  got  a  side  squint  into  one  of  his  pockets,  and  saw  it  was  full  of  eyes  that  had 
been  gouged  from  people  of  my  acquaintance.  I  knew  my  jig  was  up,  for  such  a 
feller  could  out-court  me,  and  I  thought  the  gall  brought  me  on  purpose  to  have  a 
fight.  —  Traits  of  American  Humor,  Vol.  I. 

Governmental.  Relating  to  government.  A  modem  word,  sometimes 
used,  and  yet  censured,  both  in  England  and  America,  and  characterized 
by  the  Eclectic  Review  as  an  "  execrable  barbarism."  —  Worcester. 

Grab  Game.  A  mode  of  swindling,  or  rather  stealing,  practised  by 
sharpers  in  our  large  cities.  Bets  are  made  in  which  considerable  sums 
of  money  are  involved,  when  a  dispute  is  purposely  planned,  in  the  midst 
of  which  one  of  the  confederates  seizes  or  "  grabs  "  the  money  at  stake 
and  runs  off.  The  term  is  also  used  in  a  more  general  sense  to  signify 
stealing,  and  making  off  with  the  booty,  as  in  the  following  example : 
"  The  fact  is,"  replied  Bob,  "  this  country  is  getting  rather  too  hot  for  me,  and 
I  '11  bear  you  company  !    What  d'  ye  say  to  that  ?  " 

"  Just  as  you  like,"  responded  his  two  companions  ;  "  that  is,  provided  you  won't 
attempt  the  grab  game  on  us."  —  Scenes  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  282. 

Grade.  (French.)  1.  A  degree  or  rank  in  order  or  dignity,  civil,  mili- 
tary, or  ecclesiastical. 

2.  A  step  or  degree  in  any  ascending  series;  as,  "crimes  of  every 
grade" —  Webster. 

This  word  is  of  comparatively  modem  use.  It  is  not  in  the  Enghsh 
dictionaries  previous  to  Todd's  edition  of  Johnson  in  1818.  Mr.  Todd 
caUs  it  "  a  word  brought  forward  in  some  modern  pamphlets,"  and  says, 
"  it  will  hardly  be  adopted."  Mi*.  Richardson  says  the  word  "  has  crept 
into  frequent  use."  Mr.  Knowles,  in  the  ninth  edition  of  his  dictionary, 
introduces  the  word  as  once  belonging  to  the  language,  without  comment. 
The  British  Critic  and  other  reviews  have  criticized  the  word  as  an  un- 
authorized Americanism ;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  it  has  been  adopted  at 
last  by  the  English  themselves. 

While  questions,  periods,  and  grades  and  privileges  are  never  once  formally  dis- 
cussed. —  S.  Miller. 


178  GRA  — GRA 

To  talents  of  the  highest  grade  he  [Hamilton]  united  a  patient  industiy  not  al- 
ways the  companion  of  genius.  —  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  V.  p.  213. 

3.  The  amount  of  inclination  on  a  road. 

To  Grade.  To  reduce  to  a  certain  degree  of  ascent  or  descent,  as  a  road 
or  way.  —  Webster. 

To  Graft.  To  "graft  boots"  is  to  repair  them  by  adding  new  soles, 
and  surrounding  the  feet  with  new  leather.  So  called  in  Connecticut. 
Elsewhere  called  ^'■foxing  boots." 

Graham  Bread.  Bread  made  of  unbolted  wheat.  It  is  easier  to  digest 
than  common  wheaten  bread,  and  is,  in  consequence,  much  used  by  in- 
valids. 

Grahamites.     People  who  follow  the  system  of  Graham  in  their  regimen. 

A  glance  at  his  round,  ruddy  face  would  shame  a  Grahamite  or  teetotaller  out  of 
his  ahstinence  principles. — Pickings  from  the  Picayune,  p.  130. 

Graham  System.  A  system  of  dietetics  recommended  by  Sylvester  Gra- 
ham, a  lecturer  of  some  celebrity  on  temperance  and  dietetics,  which  ex- 
cludes the  use  of  aU  animal  food  and  stimulating  drinks,  including  tea, 
coffee,  etc. 

Grain.  1.  A  particle;  a  bit;  a  little.  Ex.  "I  don't  care  a  grain;" 
"  Push  the  candle  a  grain  further  from  you." 

2.  The  universal  name,  in  the  United  States,  for  what  is  called  corn  in 
England ;  that  is,  wheat,  rye,  oats,  barley,  etc.     See  Bread-Stuff. 

Grama  Grass.  ( Ghondrosium.)  Several  species  of  this  grass  are  found 
on  our  Western  borders,  where  it  is  esteemed  excellent  food  for  cattle. 

Grand.  Very  good,  excellent,  pleasant.  This  is  one  of  the  words  so 
much  abused  among  us  by  its  too  frequent  use  and  application  in  senses 
differing  from  its  proper  one.  Ex.  "  This  is  a  grand  day ; "  "  the  sleigh- 
ing is  grand ; "  "  what  a  grand  time  we  had  at  the  ball ; "  "  grand 
weather,"  etc.  Mr.  Hamilton,  in  his  remarks  on  the  Yorkshire  dialect 
in  England  (Nugae  Literarige,  p.  318),  notices  this  word  as  common  there 
in  the  same  sense. 

Grandacious.     Magnificent.     A  factitious  word. 

Grandiferous.     Magnificent,  extensive.     A  factitious  word. 

Granite  State.  The  State  of  New  Hampshire,  so  called  from  the  abun- 
dance of  this  material  found  in  it. 

To  Grant,  for  to  vouchsafe,  is  used  in  prayer;  as,  "grant  to  hear  us." 
Southern. 


GRA— GRE  179 

Gbape  Fruit.    A  variety  of  Oitnis  racemosus.    Barbadoes. 

Grape  Vine.    See  Blue  Grass. 

Grass.  A  vulgar  contraction  of  sparrow-grass,  i.  e.  asparagus.  Further 
than  this  the  force  of  corruption  can  hardly  go. 

Grasset.     See  Ghewink. 

Grass  Widovt.  A  wife  who  has  been  separated  from  her  husband; 
called  also  a  "  widow  lewitchedr  In  England  the  term  grass  widow 
signifies  an  unmarried  woman  who  has  had  a  chUd. 

Grave- Yard.  Mrs.  Trollope  italicizes  this  word  as  novel  to  her  English 
ears,  accustomed  to  "  church-^ard." 

Gravy.  Used  in  New  England  instead  oi juice  ;  as  the  gravy  of  an  apple- 
pie. 

Grease  Wood.     (  Obione  canescens.)     The  chamizo  of  the  Mexicans. 

To  Grease  the  Wheels  is  a  metaphorical  expression  used  in  the  West 
to  signify  paying  occasionally  a  little  money  to  your  creditor,  grocer,  etc. 

Greaser.  A  term  vulgarly  applied  to  the  Mexicans  and  other  Spanish 
Americans.     It  first  became  common  during  the  war  with  Mexico. 

The  Americans  call  the  Mexicans  greasers,  which  is  scarcely  a  complimentary 
soubriquet;  although  the  term  "greaser  camp"  as  applied  to  a  Mexican  encamp- 
ment is  truthfully  suggestive  of  filth  and  squalor.  —  Marryat,  Mountains  and  Mole- 
hills, p.  236. 

Tell  the  old  coon  then  to  quit  that,  and  make  them  darned  greasers  clear  out  of  the 
lodge,  and  pock  some  com  and  shucks  here  for  the  animals,  for  they  're  nigh  give 
out. — Ruxton,  Life  in  the  Far  West,  p.  176. 

Great.  Distinguished,  excellent,  admii-able.  Thus,  "  a  great  Christian  " 
means  a  pious  man ;  "  a  great  horse,"  a  horse  of  good  qualities  and  bot- 
tom ;  "  a  great  plantation,"  a  fertile  one.  So,  too,  "  he  is  great  at  run- 
ning ; "  "  she  is  great  on  the  piano." 

Great  Big.  Very  large ;  as,  "I 've  got  a  great  mg  water-melon."  Often 
used  by  children. 

Greatle.    a  great  while.     Long  Island. 

Greek.  A  soubriquet  often  appHed  to  Irishmen,  in  jocular  allusion  to 
their  soi-disant  Milesian  origin. 

In  some  of  our  Atlantic  cities  the  men  of  foreign  birth,  especially  those  in  vulgar 
style  called  Greeks,  constitute  so  nearly  a  majority,  that  it  is  only  their  ignorance  that 
prevents  the  saying  of  Maro  from  being  fulfilled,  — 

Sana'i  dominantur  in  urbe. 

As  it  ifl,  demagogues  rule  through  them.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  July  2,  1858. 


180  GRE  — GRI 

Green.  Uncouth,  raw,  inexperienced,  applied  to  persons ;  a  metaphor  de- 
rived from  the  vegetable  world.  It  answers  to  the  English  use  of  the 
word  verdant. 

A  Pennsylvania  editor  says : 

Somebody  brought  one  bottle  of  sour  water  into  our  office,  with  the  request  to  no- 
tice it  as  "  lemon  beer."     If  Esau  was  green  enough  to  sell  liis  birthright  for  a  mess 
^*-r  ?     -/     9^P<^ttage,  it  does  not  prove  that  we  will  tell  a  four-shilling  lie  for  five  cents. 

Green  Mountain  State.     The  State  of  Vermont. 

Griffin,  Griffe.  This  word,  like  the  French  griffone,  is  constantly  used 
in  Louisiana,  both  in  conversation  and  in  print,  for  a  mulatto,  particularly 
the  woman ;  probably  in  allusion  to  the  fabulous  griffin,  half  eagle,  half 
lion. 

To  Grig.  To  vex,  irritate.  To  grig  means  to  pinch,  in  Somerset,  Eng- 
land. 

That  word  "  superiors  "  grigged  me.  Thinks  I,  "  My  boy,  I  '11  just  take  that  ex- 
pression, roll  it  up  in  a  ball,  and  shy  it  back  at  you."  —  S.  Slick,  Human  Nature, 
p.  83. 

Grist.     A  large  number  or  quantity. 

There 's  an  unaccountable  grist  of  bees,  I  can  tell  you ;  and  if  you  mean  to  charge 
upon  sich  enemies,  you  must  look  out  for  somebody  besides  Whiskey  Centre  for 
your  vanguard.  —  Cooper,  The  Oak  Openings. 

I  went  down  to  the  Squire's  to  have  a  talk  with  his  daughter.  There  was  a  whole 
grist  of  fellows  there.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

I  says,  says  I,  "  Hannah,  sposin  we  keep  thanksgiving  to  home  this  year,"  says 
I,  "and  invite  all  our  hull  grist  o'  cousins  and  aunts  and  things — go  the  whole 
figure,  and  do  the  thing  genteel." — McClintock's  Tales. 

Grit.  Hard  sandstone,  employed  for  millstones,  grindstones,  pavement, 
etc.  And  hence  the  word  is  often  vulgularly  used  to  mean  courage, 
spirit. 

The  cbmmand  of  a  battalion  was  given  to  Mr.  Jones,  a  pretty  decided  Whig  in 
politics,  and,  like  manjnPther  men  jsf  Zacchean  stature,  all  grit  and  spmt.  —  N.  Y. 
Com.  Advertiser,  June  24. 

Honor  and  fame  from  no  condition  rise.  It 's  the  grit  of  a  fellow  that  makes  the 
man.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  44. 

If  he  had  n't  a  had  the  clear  grit  in  him,  and  showed  his  teeth  and  claws,  they  'd 
a  nullified  him  so  you  would  n't  see  a  grease  spot  of  him  no  more.  —  Sam  Slick  in 
England,  ch.  17. 

The  Hunters  grew  into  a  class  in  New  England.  They  were  a  breed  by  them- 
selves, a  kind  of  cross  between  the  Puritan  and  Indian,  with  all  the  grit  of  the  one 
and  lawless  love  of  liberty  of  the  other.  —  Elliott,  New  England  History,  Vol.  I.  p. 
4.59. 

I  reckon  the  chaplain  was  the  real  grit  for  a  parson,  —  always  doin'  as  he  'd.  bo 


GRI  — GRO  181 

done  by,  and  practisin'  a  dam'd  sight  more  than  he  preached.  —  Traits  of  American 
Humor,  Vol.  I. 

Gritty.     Courageous;  spirited. 

My  decided  opinion  is,  that  there  never  was  a  grittyer  crowd  congregated  on  that 
stream ;  and  such  dancin'  and  drinkin',  and  eatin'  bar  steaks  and  com  dodgers,  and 
huggin'  the  gals,  don't  happen  but  once  in  a  fellow's  lifetime. — Robh,  Squatter  Life, 
p.  106. 

Grocery.  A  grocer's  shop.  In  the  plural,  the  commodities  sold  by 
grocers. 

In  the  South-west,  a  grocery  is  a  bar-room,  and  the  term  groceries 
means  liquors.  The  barkeeper  is  often  told  to  "  fetch  on  his  groceries." 
The  "  grocery "  —  consisting  of  a  whiskey  barrel,  six  tin  cups,  two  green  glass 
tumblers,  a  lot  of  pipes  and  tobacco  —  was  in  close  proximity  to  the  inn  I  was  in ; 
and  there  the  qualities  of  a  very  recent  extraction  of  the  com,  and  of  the  fitness  of 
the  candidates  to  receive  the  votes  of  the  corned,  was  discussed  in  the  manner  usual 
in  such  times  and  places.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times, 

Every  other  house  in  Santa  Fe  was  a  grocery,  as  they  call  a  gin  and  whiskey  shop, 
continually  disgorging  reeling,  drunken  men,  and  everywhere  filth  and  dirt  tri 
nmphant.  — Ruxton,  Mexico  and  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  190. 

Groggery.  a  place  where  spirituous  liquors  are  sold  and  drank  ;  a  grog- 
shop. In  the  West,  often  called  a  Doggery  or  Dog-hole,  and  in  New 
York  a  Rum-hole. 

Ground  Bridge.  The  well-known  corduroy  road  of  the  South,  laid  on 
the  bed  of  a  creek  or  other  body  of  water,  to  render  it  fordable ;  while 
the  hollow  bridge  is  one  that  is  thi'own  over  the  water. 

Ground  Cherry.  (Phi/salis.)  A  wild  fruit  lately  introduced  into  our 
gardens  and  markets.     Sometimes  called  "Winter  Cherry. 

Ground  Hog.     See  WbodchucL 

Ground  Nut.  (Arachis  hypogcea.)  The  pea  nut.  It  buries  its  pods 
under  ground  after  flowering,  to  ripen  its  nuts.  It  is  cultivated  in  the 
West  Indies  and  Southern  States. 

Ground  Plum.  (Astragalus  caryocarpiis.)  A  plant  growing  on  dry  soil 
on  the  INIississippi  River  at  the  junction  of  the  St.  Peter's,  and  westward 
and  southward.  The  fruit,  which  is  a  pod,  closely  resembles  a  plum, 
whence  its  name. 

Ground  Squirrel.  A  name  sometimes  erroneously  given  to  the  striped 
and  spotted  praii'ie  squirrel  {Spermophilus  tredecimlineatus). 

Grounds.     "  Tobacco  grounds"  "  low  grounds,"  "  com  grounds,"  are  terms 
applied  to  lands  in  Virginia.     They  never  use  the  term  "  bottoms "  or 
" bottom  lands,"  which  they  call  " low  grounds" 
16 


182  GRO  — GUE 

Geoutt.     Cross,  ill-natured.     Northern. 

Grubby.     See  Toad-Fish. 

Grunter.  (Genus,  Pogonias.  Cuvier.)  One  of  the  popular  names  of 
the  fish  called  by  naturalists  the  Banded  Drum.  It  is  common  to  the 
Atlantic  coast  south  of  New  York.  Grunts  and  Young  Sheepskin  are 
other  names  of  the  same  fish.  —  Nat.  Hist,  of  New  York. 

Guano.  (Quichua,  huanu,  the  dung  of  birds.)  A  compound  of  the  ex- 
crements of  sea-birds,  and  the  remains  of  penguins  and  other  water- 
fowls. According  to  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  it  was  extensively  used  by 
the  ancient  Peruvians  to  manure  their  lands,  for  which  purpose  it  is  now 
imported  in  large  quantities  to  the  United  States  and  Europe. 

The  earliest  mention  of  guano  as  a  manure  is  found  in  Acosta's  His- 
toria  natural  y  moral  de  las  Indias,  first  printed  in  Seville  in  1590.  In 
an  English  translation  by  E.  G.  (supposed  to  have  been  Edward  Grime- 
stone),  published  in  1604,  is  the  following  at  p.  311 : 

In  some  islands  or  phares,  which  are  joyning  to  the  coast  of  Peru,  wee  see  the 
toppes  of  the  mountaines  all  white,  and  to  sight  you  would  take  it  for  snow,  or  for 
some  wliite  land ;  but  they  are  heaps  of  dung  of  sea  fowle,  which  go  continually 

thither They  go  witii  boates  to  these  ilands,  onely  for  the  dung ;  for  there  is 

no  other  profit  in  them.  And  this  dung  is  so  commodious  and  profitable,  as  it 
makes  the  earth  yeelde  great  aboundancc  of  finiite.  They  call  this  dung  guano, 
whereof  the  valley  hath  taken  the  name,  which  tliey  call  Limaguana,  in  the  valleys 

of  Peru,  where  they  use  this  dung,  and  it  is  the  most  fertile  of  all  that  countrie 

So  as  these  birds  have  not  only  the  flesh  to  serve  for  meate,  their  singing  for  recre- 
ation, their  feathers  for  ornament  and  beautie,  but  also©  their  dung  serves  to  fatten 
the  ground. 

GuARDEEN,  strongly  accented  on  the  last  syllable,  is  often  heard  in  New 
England  for  guardian. 

GuAVA.  (W.  Ind.  guayaha.^  The  fruit  of  the  Psidium  pomiferum  of  the 
West  Indies,  from  which  a  jelly  is  made.  —  Worcester.  The  Spanish 
name  guava  is  applied  to  a  different  fruit. 

Gubernatorial.     Pertaining  to  government  or  to  a  governor.  —  Webster. 

To  Guess.  1.  To  conjecture ;  to  judge  without  any  certain  principles  of 
judgment. 

2.  To  conjecture  rightly,  or  upon  some  just  reason.  —  Johnson. 
Yclothed  was  she,  fresh  for  to  devise ; 
Her  yellow  hair  was  braided  in  a  tress 
Behind  her  back,  a  yard  long  I  guess.  —  Chaucer's  Heroine. 
Incapable  and  shallow  innocents ! 
You  cannot  guess  who  caused  yoiu:  father's  death.  —  Shakspeara. 


GUI  183 

One  may  guess  by  Plato's  writings,  that  his  meaning  as  to  the  inferior  deities  was, 
that  they  who  would  have  them  might,  and  they  who  would  not  might  let  them 
alone ;  but  that  himself  had  a  right  opinion  concerning  the  true  God.  —  Stilling- 
fleet. 

We  thus  see  that  the  legitimate,  English  sense  of  this  word  is  to  con- 
jecture ;  but  with  us,  and  especially  in  New  England,  it  is  constantly  used 
in  common  conversation  instead  of  to  believe,  to  suppose,  to  think,  to  im- 
agine, to  fancy.  It  is  even  used  to  make  an  emphatic  assertion ;  as, 
**  Jem,  would  n't  you  like  a  julep  to  cool  you  off  this  sultry  morning  ?  " 
**  I  ffuess  I  would !  "  From  such  examples  as  the  words  to  fix  and  to  guess, 
it  will  be  seen  that,  while  on  the  one  hand  we  have  a  passion  for  coining 
new  and  unnecessary  words  and  often  in  a  manner  opposed  to  the  ana- 
logies of  the  language,  there  is  on  the  other  hand  a  tendency  to  banish 
from  common  use  a  number  of  the  most  useful  and  classical  English  ex- 
pressions, by  forcing  one  word  to  do  duty  for  a  host  of  others  of  some- 
what similar  meaning.  This  latter  practice  is  by  far  the  more  dangerous 
of  the  two ;  because,  if  not  checked  and  guarded  against  in  time,  it  will 
corrode  the  very  texture  and  substance  of  the  language,  and  rob  poster- 
ity of  the  power  of  appreciating  and  enjoying  those  masterpieces  of  lit- 
erature bequeathed  to  us  by  our  forefathers,  which  form  the  richest  in- 
heritance of  all  that  speak  the  English  tongue. 

An  amusing  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  such  misuse  of  words  can  obscure 
tiie  sense  of  their  true  meaning,  even  in  the  minds  of  educated  men,  is  furnished  by 
a  critical  comment  in  the  "  Shakespear's  Scholar  "  of  Richard  Grant  White,  A.  M., 
on  the  following  passage  in  Eichard  III.  Act  IV.  Scene  IV. : 

STAio-Er.    Bichmond  is  on  the  sea*. 

K.  Richard.     There  let  him  sink  —  and  be  the  seas  on  him. 

White-livered  runagate ;  —  what  doth  he  there  ? 
Stanlet.    I  know  not,  mighty  sovereign,  but  by  guess. 
K.  RiCKARS.    Well,  as  you  guess  ? 

A  better  illustration  of  the  correct  use  of  the  word  could  nowhere  be  found.  Stan- 
ley says  he  does  not  know,  he  only  guesses ;  and  the  king  replies.  Well,  tell  me  what 
your  guess  or  suspicion  is.  But  hear  the  American  critic :  "  K  there  be  two  words 
for  the  use  of  which,  more  than  any  others,  our  English  cousins  twit  us,  they  are 
'  well,'  as  an  interrogative  exclamation,  and  'guess.'  Milton  uses  both,  a.s  Shake- 
spear  also  frequently  does,  and  exactly  in  the  way  in  which  they  are  used  in 
America ;  and  here  we  have  them  both  in  half  a  line.  Like  most  of  those  words 
and  phrases  which  it  pleases  John  Bull  to  call  Americanisms,  they  are  English  of 
the  purest  and  best,  which  have  lived  here  wliile  they  have  died  out  in  the  mother 
country."  To  such  "  English  of  the  purest  and  best !  "  are  we  fast  hastening,  if  some 
check  is  not  put  on  the  present  tendencies  of  our  colloquial  speech,  and  the  style 
adopted  in  our  periodical  literature. — Rev.  A.  C.  Geikie,  in  Canadian  Journal, 
Sept.  1857. 

Guinea  Cokk.    (ffolcus  sorghum.)    Egyptian  millet,  Durrah  of  the  Arabs, 


184  GUI  — GUM 

a  plant  with  a  stalk  of  the  size  and  appearance  of  maize.     The  grain 
grows  in  a  single  pendant  bunch  at  the  top. 

Guinea  Grass.  A  species  of  grass  cultivated  in  the  West  Indies,  used 
as  fodder  for  horses.  —  CarmichaeVs  W.  Indies. 

Gtjinea-Keet,  or  simply  Keet.  A  naine  given  in  some  localities  to  the 
Guinea  fowl,  and  probably  derived  from  its  cry. 

Gulch.     A  deep  ravine,  caused  by  the  action  of  water.     California. 

The  word  gulch,  which  is  in  general  use  here,  may  not  be  familial*  to  your  ears ; 
though  its  sound  somewhat  expresses  its  meaning,  without  further  definition.  It 
denotes  a  mountain  ravine,  diflFering  from  ravines  elsewhere,  as  the  mountains  of 
California  differ  from  all  others,  more  steep,  abrupt,  and  inaccessible.  The  sound 
■  of  gidch  is  like  that  of  a  sudden  plunge  into  a  deep  hole,  which  is  just  the  character 
of  the  thing  itself.  It  bears  the  same  relation  to  a  ravine,  that  a  canon  does  to  a 
pass  or  gorge. — Bayard  Taylor's  Letters  from  California,  Sept.  1849. 

To  Gulch.  To  swallow  voraciously.  —  Todd,  Webster.  In  low  lan- 
guage this  word  is  still  heard  in  New  England. 

You  are  all  a  haggling,  gidching,  good-for-nothing  crew.  —  Margaret. 

Gulf  States.  The  States  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  namely, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas. 

To  GuLLT.  To  wear  a  hollow  channel  in  the  earth. —  Webster.  This 
conversion  of  the  noun  into  a  verb  is  an  Americanism.  "  The  roads  are 
much  gvUied"  is  a  common  expression. 

Gully  Plum.     The  fruit  of  the  Spondia  lutea.     So  called  in  Barbadoes. 

Gum.  1.  The  name  of  many  Southern  trees.  The  Sour  Giun  and  Black 
Gum  are  species  of  Nyssa.  The  Sweet  Gum,  often  called  simply  Gum 
or  Gum-tree,  is  Liquidambar  styracijlua.  The  trees  of  this  last  species 
resemble  the  Hornbeam  of  the  north.  They  grow  to  a  large  size,  and,  in 
many  instances,  decay  at  the  heart,  leaving  a  shell  of  some  few  inches  in 
thickness.  Hence  they  are  frequently  cut  into  convenient  lengths,  and, 
after  due  preparation,  converted  into  casks,  bee-hives,  etc.  From  this 
practice,  bee-hives,  though  made  of  boards,  have  come  to  be  called  bee- 
gums,  and  any  thing  like  casks  or  firkins  for  domestic  uses  is  called  a 
gum.     Southern. 

What  dat  ?    What  dat  dis  nigger's  eyes 

Displose,  what  mighty  big  surprise, 
Upon  de  gum-tree  swingin'  ? 

It  am  de  possum  at  his  ease. 

Rocked  in  do  cradle  ob  de  breeze. 

And  list'nin'  to  de  singin'.  —  Negro  Melody. 


GUM  — GUN  185 

2.  India-rubber.     Hence  the  plural  Gums  is  often  applied  to  India- 
rubber  shoes. 

Gum  Game.  A  trick,  a  dodge.  Opossums  and  raccoons,  when  pursued, 
will  fly  for  refuge  to  the  Sweet  Gum  tree,  in  preference  to  any  other. 
This  ti-ee  is  very  tall,  slim,  smooth,  and  void  of  branches  except  a  tuft  at 
the  top,  which  is  a  place  of  secui'ity  for  any  animal  expert  enough  to 
reach  it.  As  they  are  hunted  in  the  night,  they  are,  of  course,  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  hunter's  penetrating  eye  at  the  great  height  of  the  gum 
tree.     This  is  called  "  coming  the  gum  game  "  over  the  hunter. 

To  Gum  a  Saw.  To  punch  out  and  give  the  set  to  the  teeth  of  a  saw, 
by  means  of  a  machine  called  a  gummer.  The  phrase  alludes  to  the 
growth  of  the  teeth  from  the  gums. 

Gumbo.     See  Gombo, 

Gummer.     A  machine  for  gumming  saws. 

Gummy  !     An  exclamation,  used  in  New  England- 

"  Gummy ! "  retoi-ted  the   woman,     "  He  has  been  a  talkin'  about  me,  and  a 
runniu'  me  down," — Margaret,  p.  137, 

Gump.  A  foolish  person  ;  a  dolt.  —  Webster,  It  is  provincial  iu  England, 
and  may  be  found  in  most  of  the  glossaries. 

Tim  Crane  is  the  concamdest  old  gump  that  ever  was  —  no  inteUectibility  at  aU.  — 
Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p,  90. 

Gumption.  Understanding ;  skill.  —  TodcL  This  vulgar  word  is  provin- 
cial in  most  parts  of  England,  and  is  noticed  in  the  glossaries  of  Pegge, 
Brockett,  Forby,  Jennings,  and  Halliwell.  With  us  it  is  frequently 
heard. 

What  tho'  young  empty  airy  sparks 
May  have  their  critical  remarks ;  — 

'T  is  sma'  presumption, 
To  say  they  're  but  unlearned  clarfcs. 

And  want  the  gumption.  —  Hamilton,  Ramsay's  Poems,  II. 

He 's  a  clever  man,  and  aint  wantin'  in  gumption.    He  's  no  fool,  that 's  a  fact.  — 
Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  26. 

Gun  Stick.     A  ramrod.     Western. 

Gunning.  A  colloquial  word,  from  gun.  The  act  of  going  out  with  a 
gun,  in  order  to  shoot  game.  —  Ask'i  Dictionary.  This  word  is  com- 
monly used  by  sportsmen  in  the  Northern  States  in  the  sense  given  by 
Ash.     At  the  South  the  word  hunting  is  used. 

The  Americans  were,  however,  mostly  marksmen,  having  been  accustomed  to 
gunning  from  their  youth.  —  Hannah  Adams,  Hist.  ofN.  England. 

16* 


186  GUR  — HAK 

Gurry.     The  slime  and  blood  of  fish.     A  fisherman's  word. 

The  fisherman  dips  a  bucket  of  fresh  water  from  the  spring,  and,  washing  the 
gurry  from  Ids  hands  and  face,  starts  for  home.  —  Peter  Gott,  the  Fisherman. 

Gush.     A  great  abundance.     A  Texan  would  say,  "  We  have  got  a  gush 
of  peaches  in  our  neck  of  the  woods." 

Gut.     a  tidal  inlet  or  narrow  strait.     Used  also  in  England. 


H. 

Habitan.  (French.)  A  term  applied  to  Avhat,  in  English,  is  called  a  yeo- 
man ;  i.  e.  a  small  country  proprietor.     Canada  and  Louisiana. 

My  coachman  was  a  hahitan,  and  I  had  a  fine  opportunity  of  studying  the  con- 
flicting traits  of  character  which  distinguish  the  race.  —  Lanman's  Tour  to  the 
Saguenay. 

At  Lake  Megantic,  Gen.  Arnold  met  an  emissary  whom  he  had  sent  in  advance 
to  ascertain  the  feelings  of  the  habitans,  or  Prench  yeomanry. — Irving' s  Life  of 
Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  96. 

Hackberrt.  (Celtts  occidentaKs.)  A  small  or  middle-sized  tree,  with 
sweet  and  edible  fruits  as  large  as  bird-cherries,  and  which  makes  good 
firewood.     It  is  also  called  Sugar  Berry. 

Hackee.    A  name  given,  in  some  of  the  Eastern  States,  to  the  Chipmuk. 

Hackmatack.  The  American  larch,  or  Tamarack  (Larix  Americana). 
This  tree  abounds  in  the  North-eastern  States  and  Bi-itish  America. 
It  is  a  hard,  strong,  and  durable  wood,  is  frequently  used  in  ship-building, 
while  the  houses  of  the  settlers  are  almost  entirely  constructed  of  it. 
The  name  is  probably  of  Indian  origin. 

Had  have.     This  astonishing  combination  of  auxiliaries  is  often  used  by 
speakers  and  writers  who  should  know  better. 
Had  we  have  known  this. — Nott,  on  Hamilton's  Duet. 

Had  n't  oughter,  i.  e.  had  not  ought  to,  for  "  ought  not  to,"  a  common 
vulgarism  in  New  England.     See  Ought. 

To  Hail  from.  A  phrase  probably  originating  with  seamen  or  boatmen, 
and  meaning  to  come  from,  to  belong  to ;  as,  "  He  hails  from  Kentucky," 
i.  e.  he  is  a  native  of  Kentucky,  or  lives  in  Kentucky. 

Haint,  for  have  not.  A  contraction  much  used  in  common  conversation  in 
New  England.     It  is  also  used  in  various  parts  of  England. 

Hake.     The  New  Jersey  name  for  the  Kang-Fish. 


HAL  — HAN  187 

Half  Cock.  "  To  go  off  at  half  cock"  is  a  metaphorical  expression  bor- 
rowed from  the  language  of  sportsmen,  and  is  applied  to  a  person  who 
attempts  a  thing  in  a  hurry  without  due  preparation,  and  consequently 
fails. 

Mr.  Clayton  of  Georgia  is  a  fine  speaker ;  he  is  always  ready,  and  never  goes  off 
half  cock.  —  Crockett,  Tour  down  East. 

Half-faced  Camp.  A  shelter  of  the  frontiersmen  of  the  South  of  the 
last  generation,  and  perhaps  of  the  present.  They  are  sometimes  open 
on  the  south  side,  whence  the  name. 

You  may  talk  about  your  reunions,  your  soinJes,  and  all  that  the  world  calls  social 
refinement ;  but  for  trae-hearted  benevolence,  void  of  parade,  commend  me  to  a 
hunting-party  in  a  half-faced  camp.  —  The  Americans  at  Home,  Vol.  I.  p.  95. 

Half-saved.  Half-witted.  Provincial  in  Herefordshire,  England,  and 
in  New  England. 

Hammock.  (Carib,  amaca.)  A  swinging-bed.  This  word,  now  in  such 
general  use,  especially  among  seamen,  and  the  etymology  of  which  has 
been  so  much  disputed,  is  undoubtedly  of  West  Indian  origin. 

Cotton  for  the  making  of  hamacas,  which  are  Indian  beds. — Raleigh,  Disc,  of 
Guiana,  1596. 

The  Brazilians  call  their  beds  hamacas;  they  are  a  sheet  laced  at  both  ends,  and 
so  they  sit  rocking  themselves  in  them.  —  Sir  R.  Hawkins,  Voy,  to  South  Sea. 

Hand.  An  adept  or  proficient  in  any  thing;  one  who  is  fond  of  any 
thing. 

It  is  a  wonder  to  me  how  some  folks  can  content  themselves  doin'  nothin' ;  I 
never  could.  I  must  be  doin'  something,  or  I  should  gape  myself  to  death.  I  'm  a 
great  hand  to  gape  —  why  afore  now  I  've  gaped  so  much  on  Sundays  that  my 
mouth  would  n't  stay  shut  for  a  week  after.  —  Yankee  Hill's  Stories. 

"  Take  a  pickle,  Mr.  Crane,"  said  the  Widow  Bedott,  "  I  'm  glad  you  like  pickles 
—  they  're  a  delightful  beverage.  Melissa  never  eats  'em  —  she  ain't  no  pickle 
hand." —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  71. 

Hand  running.  Consecutively ;  as,  "  He  can  hit  the  bull's  eye  at  fifty 
paces  ten  times  hand  running."     So  too  in  the  North  of  England. 

To  Handle.  To  manage,  to  overcome  an  opponent ;  particularly  in 
wrestUng.     Ex.  "  You  can't  handle  him." 

Handsomely.  Carefully,  steadily.  A  term  used  by  seamen  when  giving 
an  order. 

Hand  WRITE,  for  handwriting,  a  common  barbarism  at  the  South;  as,  "I 
can't  read  his  handwrite." 

Hang.    "  To  get  the  hang  of  a  thing  "  is  to  get  the  knack,  or  habitual 


188  HAN— HAR 

facility,  of  doing  it  well ;  also,  to  get  acquainted  with.     A  low  expression 
frequently  heard  among  us. 

If  ever  you  must  have  an  indifferent  teacher  for  your  children,  let  it  be  after  they 
have  got  a  fair  start  and  have  acquired  the  hang  of  the  tools  for  themselves.  — 
Prime,  Hist,  of  Long  Island,  p.  82. 

He  had  been  in  pursuit  of  the  science  of  money-making  all  his  life,  but  could 
never  get  the  hang  of  it.  —  Pickings  from  the  Picayune. 

Suggs  lost  his  money  and  his  horse,  but  then  he  had  n't  got  the  hang  of  the  game. 

—  Simon  Suggs,  p.  44. 

Well,  now,  I  can  tell  you  that  the  sheriffs  are  the  easiest  m«n  for  you  to  get  the 
hang  of,  among  all  the  public  officers.  —  Greene  on  Gambling. 

To  Hang.  To  stick  fast,  come  to  a  stand  still ;  as,  the  jury  hung,  and  "  the 
man  got  a  new  trial."  Probably  borrowed  from  the  sportsman's  term 
"  to  hang  fire,"  said  of  a  gun  which  does  not  go  off  at  once. 

To  Hang  around.  To  loiter  about.  The  English  expression  is  to 
hanff  about. 

Every  time  I  come  up  from  Louisiana,  I  found  Jess  hangin'  round  that  gal,  lookin' 
awful  sweet,  and  a  fellow  couldn't  go  near  her  without  raisin'  his  dander. — Robb, 
Squatter  Life. 

To  Hang  up  one's  Fiddle.     To  desist ;  to  give  up. 

When  a  man  loses  his  temper  and  ain't  cool,  he  might  as  well  hang  up  his  fiddle. 

—  Sam  Slick. 

If  a  man  at  forty-two  is  not  in  a  fair  way  to  get  his  share  of  the  world's  spoils, 
he  might  as  well  hang  up  his  fiddle,  and  be  content  to  dig  his  way  through  life  as 
best  he  may.  —  Daw's  Sermons,  p.  78. 

To  Happen  in.     To  happen  to  call  in ;  to  go  or  come  in  accidentally. 

Happening  into  the  Suffolk  jail  on  a  business  errand,  we  were  somewhat  startled 
by  hearing  our  name  fiuniliarly  called  from  a  prisoner's  cell,  etc.  —  Boston  Bee,  Feb. 
1855. 

To  Happify.  To  make  happy.  This  mongrel  barbarism,  according  to 
Mr.  Pickering,  is  sometimes  heard  in  our  pulpits. 

Happy  as  a  Clam  is  a  common  simile  in  New  England,  sometimes  en- 
larged to  "  happy  as  a  clam  at  high-water." 

Inglorious  friend !  most  confident  I  am 

Thy  life  is  one  of  very  little  ease ; 

Albeit  men  mock  thee  with  their  smiles, 
And  prate  of  being  happy  as  a  clam.  —  Saxe,  Sonnet  to  a  Clam. 

The  poor  peasant  who  satisfies  his  hunger  with  submission  and  salt  pork,  peni- 
tence and  potatoes,  is  as  sound  as  a  live  oak  corporeally,  and  as  happy  as  a  clam,  at 
high-water.  —  Dow's  Sermons. 

Hard  Case.     A  worthless,  dissipated  fellow ;  a  drunkard. 


HAR  — HAR  189 

Hard  Coal.  Anthracite  coal,  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from  bituminous 
coal,  which  is  called  soft  coal. 

Since  the  introduction  of  hard  coal,  the  infernal  regions  hare  become  greatly  en- 
larged, so  that  they  can  now  uncomfortably  accommodate  the  whole  human  race, 
wliither  they  all  appear  to  be  bound,  for  a  certainty.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  III.  p. 
112. 

Hardhack.  (^Spircea  iome)itosa.)  The  popular  name  of  a  well-known 
and  common  plant  in  pastures  and  low  grounds.  It  is  celebrated  for  its 
astringent  properties. 

Slic  made  a  nosegay  of  the  mountain  laurel,  red  cedar  with  blueberries,  and  a 
bunch  of  the  white  hardhack. — Margaret,  p.  206. 

Hardhead.  A  fish  of  the  herring  species,  the  menhaden ;  so  called  in 
the  State  of  Maine.     See  Menhaden. 

Hard  Pushed.  Hard  pressed,  in  a  difficulty ;  and  especially,  as  a  mer- 
cantile phrase,  hard  pressed  for  money,  short  of  cash. 

As  I  said,  at  the  end  of  six  months  we  began  to  be  hard  pushed.  Our  credit, 
however,  was  still  fair.  —  Perils  of  Pearl  Street,  p.  123. 

A  Hard  Row  to  Hoe.  A  metaphor  derived  from  hoeing  corn,  mean- 
ing a  difficult  matter  or  job  to  accomplish. 

Gentlemen,  I  never  opposed  Andrew  Jackson  for  the  sake  of  popularity.  I  knew 
it  was  a  hard  row  to  hoe ;  but  I  stood  up  to  the  rack,  considering  it  a  duty  I  owed  to 
the  country  that  governed  me.  —  Crockett's  Speech,  Tour  down  East,  p.  69. 

Hard  Run.  To  be  hard  pressed ;  and  especially  to  be  in  want  of  money. 
The  same  as  hard  pushed. 

TVe  knew  the  Tammany  party  were  hard  run  ;  but  we  did  not  know  it  was  re- 
duced to  the  necessity  of  stealing  the  principles  of  Nativism.  — iV.  Y.  Tribune,  Nov. 
1,  1845. 

Hard  up.    In  straits  for  want  of  money ;  short  of  funds. 

Hardshell  Baptists.  The  name  of  a  sect  of  Baptists  in  the  Southern 
States,  known  as  those  of  the  strait-laced  order ;  while  those  of  liberal 
views  are  called  "  SoftsheU  Baptists." 

We  had  a  variety  of  passengers  in  the  stage  to  Milledgeville.  There  was  an  old 
gentleman  in  black,  a  dandy  gambler,  an  old  Hardshell  preacher,  as  they  call  them 
in  Georgia,  with  the  biggest  mouth  I  ever  seed,  a  circus  clown,  a  cross  old  maid,  a 
beautiful  young  lady,  etc.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

In  a  debate  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  1857,  ]yir.  Elhott,  of 
Kentucky,  in  nominating  the  Rev.  John  Morris  for  chaplain,  said : 

Mr.  Morris  is  a  regular  member  of  the  Hardshell  Baptist  Church,  a  very  pious 
man,  not  of  very  eminent  ability,  but  just  the  man  to  pray  for  such  a  a-owd  as 
this. 


190  HAR  — HAS 

Hardshell  Democrats,  also  called  "  Hardshells,"  and  again  abbre- 
viated into  "  Hards."  The  name  of  a  political  party,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing history  is  given  by  the  New  York  Tribune  of  April  2,  1853 : 

These  terms  date  from  the  efforts  made  to  reunite  the  Cass  and  Van 
Buren  democracy  of  1848,  who  were  known  as  Hunkers  and  Barnburn- 
ers. Some  difficulty  attended  this  reunion,  which  gave  rise  to  the  use 
of  the  new  political  epithets.  The  difference  between  a  Hardshell  and 
a  Softshell  is  this :  one  favors  the  execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
and  goes  for  a  distribution  of  the  offices  among  the  Nationals,  while  the 
other  is  a  loud  stickler  for  Union  and  Harmony.  The  Hards  embrace 
the  Cass  Hunkers  of  1848,  of  the  National  school  of  politics ;  while  the 
Softs  are  composed  of  the  remnants  of  the  Van  Buren  and  Adams  party 
of  1848,  and  such  Hunkers  as  Secretary  Marcy  and  Governor  Seymour. 

Hard  Wood.  A  term  applied  to  woods  of  solid  texture  that  soon  decay, 
including  generally,  beech,  birch,  maple,  ash,  etc.  Used  by  shipwrights 
and  farmers  in  Maine,  in  opposition  to  oak  and  pine.  In  the  South  and 
West  it  is  opposed  to  "  light  wood." 

Harness-Cask.  A  conical  cask  bound  with  iron  hoops,  from  which  salt 
meat  is  served  out  at  sea.  The  cask  is  usually  painted  green  and  the 
hoops  black ;  the  resemblance  of  the  latter  to  the  black  leathern  straps 
of  harness,  has  probably  given  rise  to  the  name. 

Hasty  Pudding.  Indian  meal  stirred  into  boiling  water  until  it  becomes 
a  thick  batter  or  pudding,  and  eaten  with  milk,  butter,  and  sugar  or  mo- 
lasses. In  Pennsylvania  and  some  other  States  it  is  called  mush;  in 
New  York,  suppawn.  Joel  Barlow  wrote  a  poem  on  the  subject,  in 
which  he  thus  accounts  for  its  name : 

Thy  name  is  Hasty  Pudding !  thus  our  sires 

Were  wont  to  greet  thee  fuming  from  their  fires ; 

And  while  they  argued  in  thy  just  defence, 

With  logic  clear  they  thus  explain'd  the  sense : 

"  In  haste  the  boiling  caldron  o'er  the  blaze 

Receives  and  cooks  the  ready-powder'd  maize; 

In  haste  't  is  serv'd ;  and  then  in  equal  haste, 

With  cooling  milk,  we  make  the  sweet  repast," 

Such  is  thy  name,  significant  and  clear, 

A  name,  a  sound  to  every  Yankee  dear.  —  Canto  I, 

Father  and  I  went  down  to  camp, 

Along  wi'  Captain  Goodin, 
And  there  we  see  the  men  and  boys. 

As  thick  as  luisty  puddin.  —  Song,  Yankee  Doodle, 

Hasty  pudding  has  long  been  eaten  in  England,  where  it  is  made  of 
milk  and  flour.     JVIr.  Greave,  in  his  Spiritual  Quixote,  printed  in  Lon- 


HAT— HAZ  191 

don  in  1773,  says :  "  There  is  a  certain  farinaceous  composition,  which, 
from  its  being  frequently  used  by  our  ancestors  as  an  extempore  supple- 
ment to  a  scanty  dinner,  has  obtained  the  appellation  of  a  hasty  pudding. 
It  is  composed  of  milk  and  flour  boiled  together."  "We  find  it  again  men- 
tioned in  the  European  Magazine  for  March,  1796,  in  an  "  Epitaph,"  sent 
as  a  hint  to  a  water-drinker. 

Here  lies  Ned  Rand,  who  on  a  sudden 
Left  off  roast  beef  for  hasty  pudding  ; 
Forsook  old  stinge  mild  and  stale, 
And  every  drink,  for  Adam's  ale. 

Hat.  Our  Northern  women  have  almost  discarded  the  word  bonnet,  ex- 
cept in  " sun-bonnet"  and  use  the  term  hat  instead.  A  like  fate  has  be- 
fallen the  word  gown,  for  which  both  they  and  their  Southern  sisters 
commonly  use  frock  or  dress. 

Hatchet.  "  To  bury  the  hatchet,"  is  to  make  peace.  A  phrase  alluding 
to  the  Indian  ceremony  of  burying  the  war-hatchet,  or  tomahawk,  when 
making  a  peace. 

They  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  together,  and  the  colonel  claimed  the  credit  of 
having,  by  his  diplomacy,  persuaded  the  sachem  to  bury  the  hatchet. — Irving' s  Wash 
ington,  Vol.  I.  p.  361. 

So,  "  to  take  up  the  hatchet "  is  to  declare  war  ;  to  commence  hostil 
ities. 

Shingis,  sachem  of  the  Delawares,  was  one  of  the  greatest  warriors  of  his  tribe, 
and  "  took  up  the  hatchet "  at  various  times  against  the  English.  — Irving,  Life  of 
Washington,  Vol.  I.  p.  78. 

Hate.  A  bit;  as,  "I  don't  care  a  hate."  "I  didn't  eat  a  hate."  "I 
did  n't  get  a  hate."  It  is  the  Scotch  haet,  as  in  the  phrase,  "  fient  a 
haet"  i.  e.  the  devil  a  bit. 

Haw-haw.     To  laugh  heartily. 

I  sat  down  in  front  of  the  General,  and  we  haw-hatv'd,  I  tell  you,  for  more  than 
half  an  hour, — 31aj.  Downing' s  Letters,  p.  189. 

He  burst  out  a  larfin',  and  staggered  over  to  the  sophy,  and  laid  down  and  haW' 
hawed  hke  thunder. — Sam  Slick,  3d  ser.  ch.  vii. 

Hawk-eye  State.  The  State  of  Iowa.  It  is  said  to  be  so  named  after 
an  Indian  chief  who  was  once  a  terror  to  voyageurs  to  its  borders. 

Hat  Barrack.  (Dutch,  Hooi-berg,  a  hay-rick.)  A  straw-thatched  roof, 
supported  by  four  posts,  capable  of  being  raised  or  lowered  at  pleasure, 
under  which  hay  is  kept.     A  term  peculiar  to  New  York  State. 

To  Haze.     1.  To  riot,  frolic. 

W.  had  been  drinking  and  was  hazing  about  the  street  at  night,  acting  somewhat 


192  HEA— HEA 

suspiciously  or  strangely  [when  the  officer  arrested  him].  — N.  Y.  Com.  Adv.  Dec. 
2,  1848. 

I  wish  to  all-fired  smash  I  was  to  home,  doin'  chores  about  house,  or  hazin'  round 
with  Charity  Bunker  and  the  rest  o'  the  gals  at  a  squantum. —  Wise,  Tales  far  the 
Marines. 

2.  To  urge  or  drive,  especially  with  work;  to  harass.  A  seamen's 
term. 

Mack  was  very  dull  at  learning  any  thing  connected  with  sea  life,  and  made  a 
clumsy  sailor.  The  captain  disliked  him,  and  continually  hazed  him  for  his  awk- 
wardness.—  Browne's  Whaling  Cruise, -p.  187. 

The  surest  way  to  make  a  man  woithless  and  indiiferent  to  the  success  of  the 
voyage  is  to  haze  him,  and  find  fault  with  him  when  he  does  his  duty  to  the  best  of 
his  ability. — 76/c?.  p.  90. 

This  term  is  used  at  Harvard  College,  says  Mr.  Hall  in  his  "  College 
Words,"  to  express  the  treatment  which  Freshmen  sometimes  receive 
from  the  higher  classes,  and  especially  from  the  Sophomores. 

Treshmen  have  got  quietly  settled  down  to  work  —  Sophs  have  given  up  their 
hazing. —  Williams  Quarterly,  Vol.  II.  p.  285. 

We  are  glad  to  be  able  to  read,  that  the  absurd  and  barbarous  custom  of  hazing, 
which  has  long  prevailed  in  the  college,  is,  to  a  great  degree,  discontinued.  —  Har- 
vard Magazine,  Vol.  I.  p.  413. 

Head-Cheese.  The  ears  and  feet  of  swine  cut  up  fine,  and,  after  being 
boiled,  pressed  into  the  form  of  a  cheese.  In  Maryland  it  is  always 
called  "  hogshead  cheese." 

To  Head  off.  To  get  before,  to  intercept.  Ex.  "  The  thief  ran  fast, 
but  the  officer  managed  to  head  him  off." 

Head-rights.  Grants  of  land  made  by  Texas  to  the  heads  of  families, 
under  the  colonization  laws,  in  order  to  promote  emigration. 

So  much  of  the  vacant  lands  of  the  republic  shall  be  surveyed  and  sectionized, 
in  tracts  of  six  hundred  and  forty,  and  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  each,  as  will 
be  sufficient  to  satisfy  all  claims  for  scrip  sold,  soldier's  claims,  and  head-rights.  — 
Laws  of  Texas,  Nov.  1828. 

Heap.  A  great  many,  a  crowd;  a  great  deal,  much.  So  used  at  the 
South  and  West.  A  correspondent  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser  thus 
notices  the  various  uses  of  this  word  at  the  South :  "  Heap  is  a  most 
prolific  word  in  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  among  the  common  people, 
and,  with  children  at  least,  in  the  best  regulated  families.  '  How  did  you 
like  Mr.  Smith  ? '  I  ask.  '  Oh  !  I  liked  him  a  heap,'  will  be  the  answer, 
if  affirmative,  in  five  cases  out  of  six.  It  is  synonymous  with  a  majority, 
or  a  gi-eat  many ;  as,  '  We  should  have  plenty  of  peaches,  but  a  heap  of 
them  were  killed  by  the  frost.'     It  is  synonymous  even  with  very,  as  '  I 


HEA  — HEL  193 

heard  him  preach  a  heap  often ; '  '  Oh !  I  'm  lazy  a  heap.* "    It  is  also  an 
English  vulgarism,  except  in  the  adverbial  sense. 

To  go  to  church  in  New  York  in  any  kind  of  tolerable  style  costs  a  heap  a-year. 
I  know  very  well  the  reason  why  a  majority  of  you  go  to  Beelzebub  is,  because  you 
can't  afford  to  go  to  heaven  at  the  present  exorbitant  prices.  —  Dow's  Sermons. 

I  was  not  idle,  for  I  had  a  heap  of  talk  with  the  folks  in  the  house.  —  Crockett, 
Tour,  p.  87. 

Baltimore  used  to  be  called  Mob-town ;  but  they  are  a  heap  better  now,  and  are 
more  orderly  than  some  of  their  neighbors.  —  Ibid.  p.  13. 

Heakn,  for  heard. 

I  beg  leave  to  suggest  to  you  that  the  Tinnecum  people  don't  care  much  about 
the  elements  of  music,  of  which  they've  hearn  teU  these  two  hundred  years. — 
Knickerbocker  Mag.  Vol.  XVII.  p.  37. 

Hearty  as  a  Buck.     A  hunter's  phrase,  now  in  very  common  use. 
Well,  how  d  'ye  do,  any  how  1 

So,  so,  middlin'.  I  'm  hearty  as  a  buck,  but  can't  jimip  jest  so  high.  —  Crockett, 
Tour,  p.  8. 

Heater  piece.     A  gore  or  triangular  piece  of  land,  so  called,  probably, 
from  a  flat  iron,  the  form  of  which  it  resembles.     New  England. 

Heft.     1.  Weight;  ponderousness.     A  colloquial  term  common  to  some 
parts  of  England  and  the  Northern  States. 

2.  JMr.  Pickering  says :  "  This  noun  is  also  used  colloquially  in  Amer- 
ica to  signify  the  greater  part  or  bulk  of  any  thing,  in  expressions  of 
this  kind :  '  A  part  of  the  crop  was  good,  but  the  heft  of  it  was  bad.' " 

TVe  suppose  the  plan  of  Mr.  Benton  is,  to  connect  the  Continental  Railroad  with 
the  line  of  communication  by  the  great  lakes,  thus  throwing  the  hejl  of  the  Pacific 
trade  across  the  continent  into  the  port  of  New  York. — N.  Y.  Herald,  Feb.  5, 
1849. 

My  grief!  'twas  perfectly  astonishin'  to  me  that  one  mortal  body  could  hold  as 
much  as  the  Doctor  put  in.  No  wonder  he 's  so  fat :  they  say  he  gets  the  heft  of 
his  livin'  by  contrivin'  to  get  to  one  patient's  house  jest  as  dinner's  ready,  to 
another  at  tea  time,  and  so  on.  —  F.  M.  Whicher.  Account  of  a  Donation  Party,  p. 
262. 

Mr.  Magwire  carries  on  the  shoemaking  business  quite  extensive,  and  he  's  to  his 
shop  the  heft  of  his  time.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  100. 

To  Heft.     To  try  the  weight  of  any  thing  by  hfting  it.     Local  in  Eng- 
land, and  colloquial  in  the  United  States.  —  Worcester. 

I  remember  the  great  hog  up  in  Danwich,  that  hefted  nigh  twenty  score.  — Mar- 
garet, p.  111. 

Held.     Billiard  players  say  "  I  held  the  ball,"  instead  of  I  holed  it.     See 
Found. 

17 


X 


194  HEL  — HIC 

Hell-bender.  {Menopoma  alleganiensis.)  An  animal  allied  to  the  sal- 
amander. —  Nat.  Hist.  New  York. 

Hell-diver.     See  Dipper^ 

Help.  The  common  name,  in  New  England,  for  servants,  and  for  the 
operatives  in  a  cotton  or  woollen  factory ;  a  term  long  in  use  and  evi- 
dently brought  from  England. 

It  is  ordered  that  James  Penn  shall  have  twenty  shillings,  to  be  diyided  among 
BTich  of  his  servants  and  helps  as  have  been  employed  about  ye  attendance  of 
ye  court,  etc. —  Massachusetts  Colonial  Records,  1645^  Vol.  II.  p.  139. 

"  I  hain't  kept  no  gal  since  Melissy  was  big  enough  to  aid  me,"  said  the  widow 
Bedott.     "I  think  helps  more  plague  than  profit."  — Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  76. 

I  always  want  the  kitchen  help  to  do  things  as  I  want  to  have  them  done. — New 
England  Tales. 

Hen-hawk.  (Falco  Uneatus.)  The  popular  name  of  the  Red-shouldered 
Hawk  of  naturalists. 

Herb.  In  America  universally  pronounced  erh;  whereas  in  England  the 
h  is  often  aspirated.  Thus  in  the  Quarterly  Review  for  July,  1857^ 
occurs  the  following  passage  :  "  The  peasant  gathered  a  herb  which  was 
considered  a  specific  in  the  district  where  he  was  bom."  An  American 
would  have  written  "  an  herb." 

Hern,  for  hers.  A  vulgarism  often  heard  among  the  uneducated.  It  is- 
included  by  Pegge  in  his  list  of  cockneyisms.     See  Hisn. 

Hessian  Fly.  (  Gecidomya  destructor.^  An  insect  famous  for  its  ravages 
on  wheat.  The  popular  name  of  it  is  owing  to  the  belief  that  it  was 
introduced  into  America  by  the  Hessi^i  troops  in  their  straw  from 
Germany,  during  the  year  1776,  at  which  time  the  British  army,  then 
in  occupation  of  Staten  Island,  received  large  reinforcements  of  Hes- 
sians under  General  de  Heister.  This  idea  has  been  ridiculed  by  many 
European  entomologists,  who  have  asserted  that  the  insect  is  strictly 
American.  It  appears,^  however,  that  its  existence  has  long  been  known, 
probably  for  more  than  a  century,  in  France,  Germany,  Switzerland, 
and  some  of  the  larger  islands  of  the  Mediterranean.  —  N.  T.  Hind. 
Insects  and  Diseases,  iry'urums  to  Wheat.. 

Het.  Fret,  and  part,  of  to  heat.  —  Pickering..  (Men  heard  in  the  mouths 
of  illiterate  people. 

Hickory.  A  name  given  to  several  species  of  Garya.  They  are  hand- 
some trees,  with  timber  valuable  for  its  hardness  and  toughness,  and  with 
edible  nuts.  Hence  a  "  hickory  Catholic,"  for  instance,  is  a  flexiblej 
yielding  one.     "Western. 


HIC  — HIR  195 

Hickory  Nut.     See  Walnut. 

Hickory  Shirt.  A  shirt  made  of  heavy  twilled  cotton  with  a  narrow  blue 
stripe,  so  called  from  its  strength.  These  shirts  are  much  worn  by 
laborers. 

Swindling  practicers  of  trade  flaant  in  silks,  while  honest  virtae  staves  off  starva- 
tion by  making  hickory  shirts  at  eight  cents  a  piece.  —  Doesticks,  p.  68. 

To  Hide.     To  beat     Used  also  in  various  parts  of  England, 

"WTien  I  was  a  little  boy — they  coaxed  me  to  take  all  the  jawings,  and  all  the 
hidings,  and  to  go  first  into  all  sorts  of  scrapes.  — J.  C.  Necde,  Sketches. 

To  HiFER.     To  loiter.     Used  in  North  Pennsylvania. 

Highbinder.    A  riotous  fellow.     New  York  slang. 

HiGHBELiA.     See  Lowbelia. 

Higher  Law.  A  law  higher,  or  above  that  of  the  Constitution;  the 
laws  of  God.  This  term  was  first  used  by  the  Hon.  "WUliarn  H.  Seward, 
in  a  speech  in  the  United  States  Senate,  in  March,  1850,  on  "  Freedom 
in  the  New  Territories,"  and  has  since  been  frequently  heard  in  that 
body  and  elsewhere.     In  this  speech  the  Senator  said  : 

I  know  there  are  laws  of  various  kinds,  which  regulate  the  conduct  of  men. 
There  are  constitutions  and  statutes,  codes  mercantile  and  civil ;  but  when  we  are 
legislating  for  States,  especially  when  we  are  founding  States,  all  these  laws  must 
be  brought  to  the  standard  of  the  laws  of  God.  The  Constitution  regulates  our 
stewardship  ;  the  Constitution  devotes  the  domain  to  union,  to  justice,  to  defence,  to 
welfare,  to  liberty.  But  there  is  a  higher  law  than  the  Constitution,  which  regulates 
our  authority  over  the  domain.  —  Speeches,  Vol.  I.  pp.  66  and  74. 

HiGHFALUTEN.  High  flown  language,  bombast.  This  word  is  in  com- 
mon use  in  the  West,  and  bids  fair  to  spread  over  the  country.  There 
can  be  httle  doubt  of  its  derivation  from  "  highflighting." 

I  was  at  the  Barnburners'  convention  in  Utica,  and  the  first  person  I  heard  was  a 
good-looking,  fat,  rosy-looking  Iftan  —  who  got  up  and  ground  out  what  we  term  at 
the  West  a  regular  built  fourth-of-July  —  star-spangled-banner  —  times-that-tried- 
men's-souls — Jefferson  speech,  making  gestures  to  suit  the  highfalutens. — Speech 
of  Leslie  Coombs,  in  N.  York,  Sept.  29,  1848. 

One  of  the  boys,  I  reckon  ?  All  right  on  the  goose,  eh  ?  No  highfaluten  airs 
here,  you  know.  —  Gladstone,  Englishman  in  Kansas,  p.  43. 

HiGH-HEELED  Shoes.  To  say  of  a  woman  that  she  "has  on  her  high- 
heeled  shoes  "  is  to  intimate  that  she  sets  herself  up  as  a  person  of  more 
consequence  than  others  allow  her  to  be ;  or  in  other  words,  that  she  is 
"  stuck  up."     New  England. 

High-hole.     See  Clape.     j/   i^^     _ 

To  Hire.  Often  improperly  applied  to  renting  a  house.  In  good  English 
a  house  is  rented,  while  a  vehicle  or  workman  is  hired. 


196  HI  R— HOB 

To  Hire  his  Time.  A  slave  is  said  to  "hire  his  time  "  who  contracts  with 
his  master  to  pay  a  stipulated  price  for  his  time,  and  during  such  time 
regulates  his  own  conduct  in  respect  to  labor  to  be  performed  by  him,  or 
makes  contracts  as  to  such  labor. 

In  Russia  a  certain  yearly  payment  called  Obrock,  equivalent  to  a  practice  which 
prevails  to  a  certain  extent  in  some  of  our  Southern  States,  of  allowing  slaves  to 
hire  their  own  time,  goes  a  great  way  to  extinguish  all  the  distinctions  between  seifs 
and  slaves.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Aug.  20,  1858. 

Hisn,  for  his,  or  his  own.  A  vulgarism  used  in  the  United  States,  and 
embraced  by  Mr.  Pegge  in  his  list  of  London  vulgar  words. 

Hitch.     An  entanglement,  impediment. 

All  the  hitches  in  the  case  of  McNulty  being  got  over,  the  gentlemen  of  the  long 
robe  set  themselves  at  work  in  earnest. — N.  Y.  Com.  Adv.  1845. 

To  Hitch  Horses.  It  is  a  common  expression,  when  persons  do  not 
agree,  to  say  "  they  don't  hitch  horses  together."  Men  who  do  not  agree 
will  not  stop  at  the  same  house  or  tavern,  or  will  not  hitch  their  horses 
at  the  same  stake.  It  is  also  contracted  into  "  do  not  hitch  together"  and 
stUl  further  into,  "  do  not  hitch." 

I  never  truckle  to  man,  if  he 's  as  big  as  all  out  doors.  And  after  he  poked  his 
fist  in  my  face,  one  election,  we  never  hitched  horses  together.  —  McClintock  Tales. 

I've  been  teamin'  on't  some  for  old  Pendleton,  and  have  come  to  drive  a  spell 
for  this  old  fellow,  but  I  guess  we  shan't  hitch  long.  —  Mrs.  Clavers,  Forest  Life, 
Vol.  I.  p.  116. 

Hindoos.  A  name  given  to  the  Know  Nothing  party,  in  consequence  of 
their  candidate  for  the  presidency,  Daniel  UUman,  having  been  charged 
with  being  a  native  of  Calcutta. 

Hither  and  Yon.  This  expression  is  often  used  in  the  country  towns  of 
New  England  for  here  and  there.  It  is  provincial  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land.    It  is  never  heard  in  our  seaport  towns.  —  Pickering. 

Ho.  A  word  used  by  teamsters  to  stop  their  teams.  It  has  been  used  as 
a  noun,  for  stop  ;  moderation  ;  bounds.  —  Webster.     See  Whoa. 

Because,  forsooth,  some  odd  poet  or  some  such  fantastic  fellows  make  much  on 
him,  there  's  no  ho  with  him ;  the  vile  dandiprat  will  overlook  the  proudest  of  his  ac- 
quaintance. —  Lingua,  Old  Play. 

Mr.  Malone  says  it  is  yet  common  in  Ireland ;  as,  "  thei'e  's  no  ho  in 
him,"  that  is,  he  knows  no  bounds.  This  expression  is  common  in  the 
United  States. 

Hobble  Bush.  (  Viburnum  lantanoides.)  A  straggling  shrub,  also  called 
Tangle-Legs  and  Wayfaring. 


HOB  — HOG  197 

To  Hobble.  To  hohble  a  horse,  is  to  tie  his  feet  together,  to  hopple  him. 
—  Webster. 

The  horses  were  now  hobbled,  that  is  to  say,  their  fore  legs  were  fettered  with  cords 
and  leathern  straps,  so  as  to  impede  their  movements  and  prevent  their  wandering 
-)/     /         from  camp. — Lv inn's  Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

Ho-BOY,  or  Haut-boy.     A  nightman.     New  York. 

The  Thames,  below  London,  is  odorous  with  the  sewerage  matter  it  bears  from 
that  metropolis  ;  and  there  is  scarce  a  stream  flowing  through  a  civilized  community 
but  is  degraded  to  the  occupation  of  a  haut-boy,  by  the  adoption  along  the  banks  of 
itself  and  tributaries  of  more  or  less  ingenious  devices  for  dissolving  and  washing 
away  rather  than  hoarding  up  and  rendering  useful  the  nitrogenized  material  which, 
if  properly  applied,  will  enable  the  earth  to  yield  the  most  bountiful  harvests.  — 
Scientijic  American,  Aug.  8,  1857. 

Hockey-stick.     A  stick  used  in  playing  hockey. 

I  guess  Aunt  Libby  never  had  a  hockey-stick.  — Fanny  Fern. 

Hod-carrier.  A  laborer  that  carries  mortar  and  bricks  in  a  hod  to 
masons ;  a  hodman. 

To  Hoe  one's  Row.  To  do  one's  share  of  a  job,  to  attend  to  one's  own 
business. 

In  ole  Virginny,  whar  I  war  born, 

I  eat  hoe-cake,  and  hoe  de  com ; 

And  Massa  Tyler,  he  not  slow 

To  shew  me  how  to  hoe  my  row.  —  Negro  Melodies. 

Hoe-cake.  A  cake  of  Indian  meal,  baked  before  the  fire.  In  the  inte- 
rior parts  of  the  country,  where  kitchen  utensils  do  not  abound,  they  are 
baked  on  a  hoe;  hence  the  name. 

SomQ  talk  of  hoe-cake,  fair  Virginia's  pride ; 
Rich  Johnny-cake  this  mouth  has  often  tryed. 
Both  please  me  well,  their  virtues  much  the  same ; 
Alike  their  fabric  as  allied  their  fame. 

J.  Barlow,  Hasty  Pudding. 

As  we  've  broken  hoe<ake  together,  we  cannot  rake  up  the  old  ashes  to  make 
dust  with. — Limms,  The  Wigwam  and  Cabin,  p.  10. 

They  [the  ancient  Marylanders]  were  great  horse-racers  and  cock-fighters ; 
mighty  wrestlers  and  jumpers,  and  enormous  consumers  of  hoe-cake  and  bacon.  — 
W.  Irving,  Knickerbocker. 

Hoe-down.    Another  name  for  Break-down,  which  see. 

Hog-age.     The  age  between  boyhood  and  manhood.     Nantucket. 

Hog  and  Hominy.     Pork  and  Indian  Com,  the  usual  fare  of  country 
people  in  the  "West.     The  term  is  used  for  the  sake  of  the  alliteration 
even  where  the  ground  meal  is  much  more  common  than  the  hominy. 
I  can  give  you  plenty  to  eat ;  for,  besides  hog  and  hominy,  you  can  have  bar 
17* 


198  H  O  G  —  H  O  L 

("bear)  ham  and  bar  sausages,  and  a  mattrass  of  bar-skins  to  sleep  on.  —  Thorpe, 
Big  Bear  of  Arkansas. 

Hog  Guessing.  A  sport  peculiar  to  Long  Island.  In  the  fall  a  fat  hog 
is  selected  to  be  "  guessed  for."  The  chances  are  put  at  a  given  pi-ice  as 
in  a  raffle,  and  at  the  time  appointed  each  holder  of  a  chance  "  guesses  " 
at  the  weight  of  the  hog,  which  is  then  determined  in  the  presence  of  all 
by  the  scales  ;  the  best  guess,  of  course,  takes  the  animal. 

HoG-KEEVE.  An  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  take  up  hogs  running  at  large 
for  the  purpose  of  impounding  them.  New  England.  In  the  Statutes  he 
is  called  a  Field  Driver,  which  see. 

A  man  who  can  get  down  on  his  face  and  eat  dirt  after  that  fashion  for  nothing 
but  a  beggarly  oflSce,  is  not  fit  for  a  hog-reeve.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  June,  1858. 

Hog-tight  and  HoftSE-niGH.  Always  used  together,  of  fences  that  are 
sufficient  to  restrain  trespassing  stock.     Maryland. 

HoG-w ALLOW.  On  some  of  the  Western  prairies,  but  particularly  those 
in  Texas,  the  ground  has  every  appearance  of  having  been  rooted  or 
torn  up  by  hogs  ;  hence  the  name. 

Professor  Riddell  gives  the  following  account  of  the  hog-wallow  prai- 
ries and  of  their  origin  :  "  The  long  droughts  in  summer  cause  the 
woodless  surface  of  the  prairies  to  crack  deeply,  and  oftentimes  symmet- 
rically ;  subsequent  rains  wash  the  adjacent  earth  into  these  cracks,  filling 
them  up,  converting  them  into  little  valleys,  and  leaving  intermediate 
hillocks.  Next  year  the  same  round  of  cause  and  effects  occurs  in  the 
same  places ;  and  thus  successive  years  contribute  for  a  long  time  to  pro- 
duce a  maximum  of  effect,  the  appearance  of  which  is  very  striking. 
Wlien  the  prairie  is  level,  the  hillocks  are  exactly  hexagonal,  and  usually 
eight  or  ten  feet  in  diameter.  The  depressions  between  them  are  com- 
monly twelve  to  eighteen  inches  deep.  If  the  surface  is  inclined,  the 
hexagons  become  elongated  at  right  angles  to  the  elongation  of  the  dip, 
when  they  frequently  resemble  the  waves  of  the  ocean.  From  difference 
of  surface,  soil,  and  exposure,  there  arises  a  great  diversity  in  the  size, 
depth,  and  general  appearance  of  the  hog-wallows.  They  never  occur 
in  a  sandy  soil,  consequently  they  are  not  seen  on  the  sandy  prairies  near 
the  sea-coast."  —  Silliman's  Journal  of  Science,  Vol.  XXXIX.  p.  211. 
The  ground  we  were  riding  over,  known  as  hog-wallow,  being  a  succession  of 
small  mounds  and  corresponding  hollows.  — A  Strai/  Yankee  in  Texas. 

To  Hold  on.  To  wait,  stop ;  as,  "Hold  on  a  minute ; "  originally  a  sea 
phrase.     Also,  to  hold  fast,  to  keep,  as  "  He  held  on  to  the  money." 

To  HoLLOO  BEFORE  ONE  IS  OUT  OF  THE  WooDS.  To  rejoicc  prema- 
turely, before  one  is  out  of  a  difficulty. 

In  a  few  minutes  we  were  back  in  the  harbor  again,  and  I  gave  Joe  a  piece  of  my 


HOL  — HOM  199 

mjnd  about  hollering  before  we  were  out  of  t/ie  woods.  —  A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p. 
105. 

To  HoLLOO.  (Pron.  holler.)  To  give  up ;  to  quit ;  to  yield.  •  In  vulgar 
use  at  the  West,  originating  px'obably  in  wrestling  or  fighting,  where  the 
party  down  halloos,  i.  e.  cries  out,  in  which  case  he  is  understood  to  yield. 
I  once  heard  a  "Western  man  say  he  had  "  hollered  on  drinking,"  mean- 
ing that  he  had  quit  the  practice. 

Tige  was  using  me  powerful  rough,  and  had  done  whipped  me ;  but  pshaw !  I 
never  did  holler.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

HoLP.  The  old  preterite  and  past  part,  o^ Help.  "This  antiquated  in- 
flection of  the  verb  to  help  is  stiU  used  in  Virginia,  where  it  is  corrupted 
into  holped."  —  Pickering. 

Holt,  for  hold.  A  vulgar  pronunciation,  heard  in  England  as  weU  as  in 
this  country. 

Then  the  varmint  appeared  to  me,  but  I  tiipped  him  the  first  pass  I  made ;  but  ho 
war  up  before  I  could  get  my  holt  on  him,  and  he  caught  me  by  the  leg,  and  I 
could  n't  get  him  loose  for  a  long  time." — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  T'imes. 

Home.  1.  England,  Great  Britain ;  a  term  in  common  use  among  na- 
tives of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  those  of  English  descent  resident  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada.  Some  say  "  the  Old  Country."  This 
term  is  of  ancient  use,  and  !RIr.  Irving,  in  his  Life  of  Washington,  says 
he  "  remembers  when  the  endearing  plirase  still  lingered  on  Anglo-Saxon 
lips  even  after  the  Revolution ; "  and  that  its  use  by  Washington  him- 
self, "  evinces  the  chord  which  stiU  vibrated  in  the  American  bosom." 
In  a  letter  to  George  Mason  (1769),  speaking  of  the  difficulty  arising 
from  the  clashing  interests  of  merchants,  Washington  says  : 

In  the  tobacco  colonies  where  the  trade  is  so  diffused,  and  in  a  manner  wholly 
conducted  by  factors  for  their  principals  at  home,  these  difficulties  are  enhanced. 

Again,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother  Augustine,  written  in  AprU,  1755,  he 
says: 

My  command  was  reduced,  under  a  pretence  of  an  order  from  home. 

2.  Home  is  frequently  used  for  at  home,  in  one's  own  dwelling;  as, 
"  I  breakfasted  home."     "  How 's  all  home  f  " 

HoMiXY.  Food  made  of  maize  or  Indian  corn  boiled,  the  maize  being 
either  coarsely  ground,  or  broken,  or  the  kernels  merely  hulled.  —  Flint, 
Mississippi  Valley.  Roger  Williams,  in  his  Key  to  the  Indian  Lan- 
guage, has  the  word  aupuminea,  parched  corn  —  which,  with  the  accent 
on  the  second  syllable,  has  much  the  sound  of  hominy. 

The  Indians  sift  the  flour  out  of  their  meal,  wliich  they  call  samp  ;  the  remainder 
they  call  homminy.  This  is  mixt  with  flour  and  made  into  puddings.  —  Jossdyn's 
New  England  Rarities,  1672,  p.  53. 


200  HOM  — HON 

The  Indians  live  chiefly  on  maize,  or  Indian  com  roasted  in  the  ashes,  sometimes 
beaten  and  boyled  with  water,  called  homine.  —  Thomas's  Pennsylvania.  London, 
1698,  p.  49. 

Hominy  is  Indian  com  soaked,  husked,  and  then  boiled  in  water  over  a  gentle 
fire :  —  the  thin  of  this  is  what  my  Lord  Bacon  calls  "  cream  of  maize." — Beverly's 
Virginia,  Book  III.  1725. 

"  Stranger,"  said  old  Schultz  (the  backwoodsman),  "you  have  been  welcome 
under  my  roof.  I've  given  you  nothing  but  wild  meat  and  hominy,  because  I 
had  no  bettfer;  but  I've  been  glad  of  your  company."  —  Irving,  Wol/ert's  Roost, 
p.  271. 

HoMMOCK,  Hummock,  or  Hammock.  In  Florida  a  name  given  to  small 
elevations  or  islands  in  the  "  everglades,"  or  lands  covered  by  fresh 
water  swamp.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been  coral  islands  before  the 
mud  and  sand  were  deposited  around  them. 

The  Indians  retired  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  whites,  and  burying  themselves 
in  the  deep  foi'ests,  intricate  swamps  and  hammocks,  and  vast  savannahs,  devoted 
themselves  to  a  pastoral  life.—  W.  Irving,  Wolfert's  Roost,  p.  290. 

HoMMOCKY.     Filled  with  hommocks. 

The  Seminoles  possess  a  vast  territory  in  Florida ;  and  being  such  a  swampy, 
hommocky  country,  it  furnishes  supplies  for  the  nourishment  of  varieties  of  animals. — 
Bartram's  Travels  in  N.  America. 

HoNET-FOGLE.  To  humbug,  Swindle,  cheat.  "West  and  South.  Coney- 
fogle,  to  lay  plots,  a  Lancashire  woi'd,  noticed  by  Mr.  Halliwell  in  his 
Dictionary  of  Archaic  and  Prov.  Words,  may  be  the  origin  of  it. 

When  the  Loco-focos  take  you  round  a  comer,  and  try  to  koney-fogle  you,  as  they 
say  in  Kentucky,  ask  them  what  are  Cass's  civil  qualities.  — Speech  of  F.  Smith  at 
a  Taylor  Meeting,  Washington. 

The  Washington  correspondent  of  The  New  Orleans  Delta  writes, 
1858,  as  follows : 

I  have  a  passion  for  Seward.  He  comes  up  to  my  idea  of  Rodin  in  the  Wan- 
dering Jew  —  the  most  delectable  devil  that  was  ever  drawn  by  human  pen  —  so 
cool,  so  clear-headed,  so  indomitable,  so  relentless  in  the  pursuit  of  his  fiendish  pur- 
poses. If  he  becomes  our  next  President,  and  disunion  does  not  immediately  follow 
his  election,  I  will  wager  that  he  will  so  beautifully  honey-fuggle  both  South  and 
North,  that  the  people  will  pronounce  him  one  of  the  best  Presidents  we  have  ever 
had. 

Honey  Locust.  (Gleditschia  triacanthus.)  A  tree  so  called  from  the 
sweet  pulp  in  its  ripe  pods.  In  the  West  and  South  it  is  called  the 
Thorny  Locust. 

Honeysuckle,  or  Swamp  Honeysuckle.  A  name  improperly  but 
commonly  applied  to  the  Azalea  viscosa  and  nudijlora. 


H  O  N  —  H  0  0  201 

Honorable.  A  title  given  hj  courtesy  to  members  of  both  houses  of 
congress,  and  of  State  legislatures ;  also  to  heads  of  departments  of 
the  government,  as  secretaries  and  commissioners.  The  title  is  ever 
afterwards  retained,  under  the  rule  of  "  Once  an  honorable,  always  an 
honorable." 

Hook.  (Dutch,  hoek,  a  corner,  a  cape.)  This  name  is  given,  in  New 
York,  to  several  angular  pomts  in  the  North  and  East  Rivers ;  as,  Cor- 
lear's  Hook,  Powle's  Hook,  Sandy  Hook. 

To  Hook.     To  steal.     A  common  vulgarism,  formerly  used  in  England. 

A  maid  hooked  one  of  her  mistress's  dresses  the  other  day ;  but  the  affair  was 
passed  over,  because  it  was  done  behind  the  lady's  back.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  1857. 

On  one's  own  Hook.  A  phrase  much  used  in  familiar  language,  de- 
noting on  one's  own  account ;  as,  "  He  is  doing  business  on  Ms  own 
hook"  i.  e.  for  himself. 

I  now  resolved  to  do  business  entirely  alone  —  to  go  on  my  own  hook.  If  I  get 
rich,  the  money  will  all  be  mine.  —  Perils  of  Pearl  Street,  p.  195. 

Every  man  on  his  own  hook  is  the  system  in  action  of  the  American  volunteer  sol- 
dier ;  and  trusting  to,  and  confident  in,  their  undeniable  bravery,  they  go  ahead  and 
overcome  all  obstacles.  —  Ruxton's  Adventures  in  Mexico,  p.  179. 

"We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  time  is  fast  approaching  when  we  shall 
have  our  American  Pope,  our  American  Catholic  Cardinals,  and  American  Catholic 
every  thing  on  our  own  hook.  — N.  Y.  Herald,  October,  1845. 

I  went  to  the  opera  in  London,  where  I  kept  lookin'  round ;  and  when  any- 
body laughed,  I  laughed  too,  and  when  they  'plauded,  I  'plauded  too ;  and  some- 
times, jest  to  make  'em  think  I  was  a  reglar  Frenchy,  I  'd  laugh  right  out  on  my 
own  hook. — N.  Y.  Family  Companion. 

Hooker.  A  resident  of  the  Hook,  i.  e.  a  strumpet,  a  sailor's  trull.  So 
called  from  the  number  of  houses  of  ill-fame  frequented  by  sailors  at  the 
Hook  (i.  e.  Corlear's  Hook)  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Hookey.  To  "play  hookey  "  is  to  play  truant.  A  term  used  among  school- 
boys, chiefly  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

HOOPLE.  (Dutch,  hoepel.)  The  boys  in  the  city  of  New  York  still 
retain  this  Dutch  name  for  a  trundling  hoop. 

HoosiER.     A  nickname  given,  at  the  West,  to  natives  of  Indiana, 

A  correspondent  of  the  Providence  Journal,  writing  from  Indiana, 
gives  the  following  accoimt  of  the  origin  of  this  term :  "  Throughout 
all  the  early  "Western  settlements  were  men  who  rejoiced  in  their  physi- 
cal strength,  and  on  numerous  occasions,  at  log-rollings  and  house-rais- 
ings, demonstrated  this  to  their  entire  satisfaction.  They  were  styled  by 
their  fellow-citizens  hushers,  from  their  primary  capacity  to  still  their 


202  HOO  — HOP 

opponents.  It  was  a  common  term  for  a  bully  throughout  the  "West. 
The  boatmen  of  Indiana  were  formerly  as  rude  and  as  prunitive  a  set  as 
could  well  belong  to  a  civilized  country,  and  they  were  often  in  the  habit 
of  displaying  their  pugilistic  accomplishments  upon  the  Levee  at  New 
Orleans.  Upon  a  certain  occasion  there,  one  of  these  rustic  professors 
of  the  *  noble  art '  very  adroitly  and  successfully  practised  the  *  fancy ' 
upon  several  individuals  at  one  time.  Being  himself  not  a  native  of  this 
Western  world,  in  the  exuberance  of  his  exultation  he  sprang  up,  ex- 
claiming, in  foreign  accent, '  I  'm  a  hoosier,  I  'm  a  hoosier.'  Some  of  the 
New  Orleans  papers  reported  the  case,  and  afterwards  transferred  the 
corruption  of  the  epithet  'husher'  (hoosier)  to  all  the  boatmen  from 
Indiana,  and  from  thence  to  all  her  citizens.  The  Kentuckians,  on  the 
contrary,  maintained  that  the  nickname  expresses  the  gruff  exclamation 
of  their  neighbors,  when  one  knocks  at  a  door,  etc., '  Who 's  yere  ? '  " 

There  was  a  long-haired  hoosier  from  Indiana,  a  couple  of  smart-looking  suckers 
from  Illinois,  a  keen-eyed,  leather-belted  badger  from  Wisconsin ;  and  who  could 
refuse  to  drink  with  such  a  company  ?  — Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West,  p.  210. 

Broad  Indiana's  hoosier  sons  her  fame  must  needs  keep  good. 
By  healthful  sport  of  rolling  logs  and  stumping  in  the  wood. 

The  American  Congress,  Am.  Rejected  Addresses. 

Hoosier  CaHie.  A  Western  name  for  a  sort  of  coarse  gingerbread,  which, 
say  the  Kentuckians,  is  the  bisst  "bait  to  catch  a  hoosier  with,  the  biped 
being  fond  of  it. 

Hooter.  Probably  a  corruption  of  iota.  Common  in  New  York  in  such 
phrases  as  "I  don't  care  a  hooter  for  him,"  "this  note  ain't  worth  a 
hooter." 

It  is  the  truth  that  politicians  who  pretend  to  have  such  regard  for  the  dear  peo- 
ple don't  care  a  hooter,  so  long  as  their  own  selfish  ends  are  attained.  — Dow's  Ser- 
mons, Vol.  I.  p.  6. 

Hop.  a  dance.  —  Johyison.  This  word  has  always  been  used  here  as  in 
England  as  a  familiar  term  for  dance ;  but  of  late  years  it  has  been 
employed  among  us  in  a  technical  sense,  to  denote  a  dance  where  there 
is  less  display  and  ceremony  than  at  regular  balls.  At  Saratoga  Springs, 
where  a  large  majority  of  the  people  are  strangers  to  each  other,  it  is 
customary  to  have  a  dance  or  ho-p  at  the  fashionable  hotels  three  times  a 
week,  during  the  season  when  the  waters  are  most  resorted  to. 

Hoped.  Used  among  the  illiterate  in  North  Carolina  as  the  past  part,  of 
to  help.     Ex.   "  It  can't  be  hoped."     See  Holp. 

Hopping  John.  A  stew  of  bacon  and  peas  with  red  pepper.  South 
Carolina. 


HOP  — HOR  203 

Miss  Fustick  said  Liddy  Ann  was  too  old  to  wear  plumes.     Old  Miss  C 

went  straight  and  told  her ;  which  made  Liddy  hoppin'  mad,  and  led  to  an  awful 
quarrel.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  275. 

Hopping  mad.  Exceedingly  angry,  in  a  violent  rage.  A  very  common 
colloquial  expression. 

Hopscotch.  A  game  well  known  to  our  boys.  A  figure  is  drawn  upon 
the  ground  in  the  foiin  of  a  parallelogram,  which  is  subdivided  in  several 
parts.  A  small  stone  is  thrown  successively  into  each,  and  is  knocked 
out  by  a  boy  hopping  on  one  leg,  without  resting,  until  he  has  thrown 
and  knocked  it  from  every  division  of  the  figure.  Mr.  Hartshorn  no- 
tices the  word  in  his  Shi-opshire  Glossary.  But  the  common  term  in 
England  is  Scotch  Hop  or  Scotch  Hoppers. 

Horn.  A  dram.  Probably  so  named  from  the  old  custom  of  drinking  out 
of  a  horn. 

The  chaplain  gave  us  a  pretty  stiff  horn  of  liquor  a-piece — and  first-rate  stuff  it 
was,  I  swow.  — Burton,  Waggeries. 

Faith,  said  Patrick,  if  you  had  seen  me  sell  Father  Mathews's  medal,  which  he 
blessed  and  gave  me  with  his  own  hand,  to  a  boy,  for  three  cents,  just  to  get  a  horn 
of  whiskey,  you  would  not  ask  me  if  I  loved  the  creatur'.  —  Milne,  Temperance 
Tde. 

He  poured  out  a  tumbler  of  brandy  and  water,  that  wam't  half  and  half,  but 
almost  the  whole  hog.  Oh,  gummy,  what  a  horn  I  It  was  strong  enough  to  throw 
an  ox  over  a  five  bar  gate.  —  S.  Slick,  Human  Nature. 

In  a  Horn.  A  low  phrase,  now  common,  used  to  qualify  a  falsehood, 
equivalent  to  the  English  "  over  the  left."  A  boy  will  say,  "  I  saw  a 
man  jump  over  the  house,"  and  add  sotto  voce,  " In  a  horn;"  meaning 
thereby  directly  the  reverse. 

"  Tie  the  boat  up  !  "  says  Jim.  "I'll  tie  her  up,  in  a  horn  !  Do  you  reckon  I 
can't  run  her  in  such  a  fog  as  we  '11  have  to-night  ?  "  —  Maj.  Bunkum,  in  N.  Y,  Spirit 
of  the  Times. 

I  have  mentioned  before  the  innumerable  comforts  —  in  a  horn  —  of  the  old 
White  Sulphur  Springs.  I  think  it  hardly  necessary  that  I  should  recapitulate ;  for 
there  is  never  any  change :  raw  beef,  tough  mutton,  and  tolerably  fine  ham  is  the 
regular  bill  of  fere,  and  there  is  no  variation  that  I  have  seen  or  heard  of.  —  Even- 
ing ( Wash.)  Star,  August  26, 1858. 

Horned  Grebe.     See  Dipper. 

Horned  Pout.     See  Catfish. 

Horned  Sucker.     See  Chub  Sucker. , 

Horrors.  "  To  have  the  horrors  "  is  to  be  in  low  spirits,  to  have  a  fit  of 
the  blues.     It  also  means  to  have  delirium  tremens. 

Now,  when  steam  distilling  wrenches  the  last  possible  drop  of  spirit  out  of  the 
com,  it  brings  with  it  an  unusual  quantity  erf  this  poison  [fusil  oilj,  which  acts  with 


204  HOK  — HOS 

terrible  results  on  the  nerves;  seeming  like  a  diabolical  inspiration,  stirring  up 
mania,  convulsions,  and  the  horrors,  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time.  —  Philad. 
Evening  Bulletin,  1857. 

Horse  and  Horse.  Even.  Originally  applied  to  horses  which  in  run- 
ning a  race  come  in  side  by  side,  or,  as  the  phrase  is,  "  neck  and  neck ; " 
and  then  transferred  to  gamesters.  A  story  is  told  of  a  planter,  who, 
sending  his  son  to  market  with  a  load  of  cotton,  received  from  young 
hopeful  the  following  statement  on  his  return  : 

"  Why,  daddy,  you  see,  I  sot  down  to  old  sledge  along  with  Jake  Stebbins.  It 
was  horse  and  horse,  and  his  deal.  Says  he,  'Bill,  will  you  go  the  cotton?' 
'Done,'  says  I;  and  don't  you  tliink  if  the  dem  fool  didn't  turn  jack!"  —  Bun- 
kum's Recollections. 

Horse-Cake.     Gingerbread  rudely  fashioned  into  the  shape  of  a  horse. 

Horse-Colt.  We  frequently  see  in  advertisements  these  terms,  horse- 
colt,  mare-colt,  etc.  A  horse-co\i  is  simply  a  colt ;  a  mare-colt,  merely  a 
Jiliy.  —  Portfolio,  2d  Series,  Vol.  II.  309. 

Horse-Foot.  (Limulus  polyphemus.)  The  common  name  of  a  crustacean 
found  in  our  waters  from  Massachusetts  to  Virginia,  and  in  some  places 
so  abundant  as  to  be  used  for  manure.  In  form  it  much  resembles  a 
horse's  hoof.  It  is  also  called  Horse-shoe  and  King-crab,  which  latter  is 
the  name  by  which  it  is  known  in  England. 

Horse-Mackerel.     See  Blue  Fish. 

Horse-Nettle.  (^Solanum  carolinense.)  A  plant  well  known  for  its 
orange  yellow  berries.  It  is  remarkable  that  a  similar  species  is  known 
in  Brazil  by  the  same  name  in  Portuguese. 

Horse-Shoe.     See  Horse-Foot. 

Hose.  The  Western  term  for  "  stockings,"  which  is  considered  extremely 
indehcate,  although  "  long  socks  "  is  pardonable. 

Hoss.  (A  corruption  of  the  word  horse.)  A  man  remarkable  for  his 
strength,  courage,  etc.  A  vulgarism  peculiar  to  the  West.  Even  of  a 
prominent  lady  a  Western  eulogist  will  say,  "  she 's  a  hoss,"  that  is,  a 
sort  of  Pandora  or  nonsuch. 

Hoss  Allen  is  powerful  popular,  and  the  "  bar  "  hunters  admu-e  his  free  and  easy 
manners,  and  consider  him  one  of  the  people  —  none  of  your  stuck-up,  imported 
chaps  from  the  dandy  States,  but  a  genuine  Westerner  —  in  short,  a  Iioss  !  —  Robb, 
Squatter,  p.  70. 

I  see  thar  was  miscliief  in  the  preacher  as  big  as  a  mcetin'  house,  and  I  deter- 
mined to  give  him  as  good  as  he  sent ;  so  I  looked  at  him  sorter  savagerous  like, 
and  says  I,  "Look  here,  hoss,  how  can  you  have  the  face  to  talk  to  me,  ai'ter  what 
you  said  1 "  — Mike  Hooter,  hj  a  Missourian. 


HOS  — HOU  205 

HosTiLES.     Enemies.    Western. 

Hotel  Disease.  A  disease  which  broke  out  among  the  guests  at  the 
National  Hotel  in  Washington  in  the  year  1856,  somewhat  resembling 
cholera,  attended  with  vomitmg,  diarrhoea,  and  rapid  general  prostration. 
Similar  symptoms  have  since  shown  themselves  at  some  other  hotels, 
though  not  with  the  same  virulence. 

Hounds.  1.  A  gang  of  ruffians  who  infested  San  Francisco  in  1849.  They 
also  styled  themselves  "  Regulators."  Their  murderous  excesses  were 
committed  under  the  pretence  of  guarding  the  community  against  the  en- 
croachments of  Spanish  foreigners. 

2.  The  portions  of  a  wagon  which,  projecting  from  the  fom^ard  axle, 
form  a  support  for  the  tongue  or  pole.  The  term  is  borrowed  from  nau- 
tical language,  in  which  it  means  the  projecting  parts  or  head  of  the 
mast,  serving  as  shoulders  for  the  top  or  trestle-trees  to  rest  on. 

Hour.  An  hour  hy  sun  means  an  hour  before  sunset.  Southern  and 
Western. 

House.  Used  to  form  compounds,  such  as  meat-house,  wash-house,  milJc- 
house ;  where  an  Englishman  would  say  respectively,  laundiy,  larder, 
dairy. 

HousE-HUNTixG.  In  the  city  of  New  York  most  houses  are  let  from  the 
first  day  of  May,  and  the  landlords  have  assumed  to  themselves  the  right 
of  requiring  from  their  tenants  a  decision,  as  to  whether  they  will  keep 
their  houses  or  not,  three  months  before  the  period  for  which  they 
hired  them  expires.  On  those  houses  which  are  not  hired  for  miother 
term  (usually  a  year),  "  bills  "  are  put  up  by  the  landlords,  signifying  that 
they  are  to  let.  Persons  who  intend  to  "  move,"  traverse  that  section 
of  the  city  in  which  they  desire  to  establish  themselves,  in  search  of  a 
suitable  house,  in  wliich  search  they  are  guided  by  the  landlord's  "  bills." 
This  is  called  house-hunting,  and  is  practised  by  thousands  every  year. 

Polly  began  to  grow  uneasy  now,  because  we  had  n't  got  no  house,  and  said  I 
ought  to  go  a  house-hunting  as  everj'body  else  did,  or  else  we  should  be  turned  out 
of  doors.  —  ^laj.  Downing,  May-day  in  New-York. 

To  HousE-KEEP  is  a  verb,  formed  on  the  same  principle  as  the  verb  to 
bloodlet,  which  is  credited  in  the  dictionaries  to  Arbuthnot.     Southern. 

HousEN,  as  the  plural  of  house.  This  old  form  is  stiU  used  by  the  illi- 
terate in  the  interior  of  New  England,  as  also  in  the  States  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey.     It  is  provincial  in  various  parts  of  England. 

Cornelius  Nepos  Avriteth  that  the  housen  in  Rome  were  no  otherwise  covered  over- 
head but  with  shindies  [shingles]  until  the  war  with  King  PjTrhus,  to  wit  for  the 
space  of  470  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  city.  — Holland's  Pliny,  XVI.  10. 

18 


206  HOU— HUC 

That  day  at  housen  so  she  stopped 
She  was  behind  for  dinner.  — Essex  Dialect,  p.  14. 
It  is  enacted  by  the  court  and  authoritio  thereof,  that  henceforth  no  person  or 
persons  shall  permit  any  meetings  of  the  Quakers  to  bee  in  his  house  or  housing.  — 
Plymouth  Colony  Laws,  1661. 

I  testifie  that  about  forty-two  yeares  from  tliis  date  Bichaxd  Smith  had  quiet 
possession  of  his  howsing,  land,  and  meadows.  —  Letter  from  Roger  Williams,  R.  L 
Col.  Records,  1674,  Vol.  III.  p.  53. 

Housen-Stufp.     Household  furniture. 

On  the  first  day  of  May,  at  12  o'clock,  if  the  tenant  isn't  out,  an  officer  goes  and 
puts  him  into  the  street,  neck  and  heels,  with  his  Avife  and  children  and  all  his 
housen-stuff.  —  Maj.  Downing,  May-day  in  New  York,  p.  30. 
A  wife  would  make  good  housen-stuff, 

If  she  were  downright  clever ; 
And  Sail  could  suit  me  well  enough. 
If  she  would  let  me  have  her.  —  Song,  Yankee  Doodle. 

Hove.  (Aug.  Sax.  hof,  pret.  of  keafan,  to  heave.)  This  old  preterite 
is  much  used  by  illiterate  persons  in  the  United  States. 

How  ?  Used  chiefly  in  New  England,  like  the  French  comment  ?  in 
asking  for  the  repetition  of  something  not  understood. 

Do  put  your  accents  in  the  pi-oper  spot ; 

Don't  —  let  me  beg  you  —  don't  say  "  How  ?  "  for  "  What  ?  " 

0.  W.  Holmes,  Poems. 

How  Come  ?  (Pron.  huc-cum.)  How  came  it  ?  how  did  it  happen  ? 
Southern. 

How  DE  ?  A  stiU  further  contraction  of  how  d'ye  ?  for  how  do  you  do  ? 
Southern. 

How  FARE  YOU  ?  This  is  a  common  expression,  in  some  parts  of  New 
England,  for  "  How  do  you  do  ?  "  It  is  pronounced  short,  as,  "  jHoKf 
fa'yeV 

Newman.    What,  come  back  sa  soon  ?    How  fare  you,  Doolittle  ? 
Doolittle.     Cleverly.     Steady,  pretty  steady,  and  quite  chirk  again  ;  I  thank  you. 
—  D.  Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  England. 

Hub.     The  nave  of  a  wheel.     The  word  is  provincial  in  England. 

Hubby.  Uneven,  rough.  A  term  applied  to  roads,  particularly  when 
frozen.     The  original  word,  stiU  used  provincially  in  England,  is  liohbly. 

Huckleberry.  (Gaylussacia.)  A  small  shrub  and  its  small,  globular, 
black,  sweet  fruit,  resembling  the  Whortleberry  of  England,  whence  it  is 
sometimes  called  by  that  name. 

As  to  huckleberry  and  blackberry  pics,  you  will  find  them  [in  Connecticut]  just  as 
our  mother  made  them  fifty  yeai-s  ago.  —  Goodrich's  Reminiscences,  I.  305. 


HUC  — HUN  207 

Huckleberry  above  the  Persimjion.  To  be  a  huckleberry  above  one's 
persimmon  is  a  Southern  phrase,  meaning  to  be  above  one's  ability. 

The  way  he  and  his  companions  used  to  destroy  the  beasts  of  the  forests  was 
huckleberry  above  the  persimmon  of  any  native  in  the  country.  —  Thorpe,  Backwoods, 
p.  166. 

Huge  Paws.  A  nickname  given  to  the  working  men  of  the  Loco  Foco 
party  in  New  York. 

The  Huge  Paws  ought  to  have  another  meeting  in  Tammany  Hall,  before  they 
make  their  nominations,  —  N.  Y.  Herald,  Oct.  7,  1846. 

Hull.  A  vulgar  pronunciation  of  the  word  whole^  very  common  in  New 
England. 

Hulls.  The  husks  of  peas,  etc  At  the  South,  applied  also  to  the  shells 
of  oysters. 

To  Hull.  To  free  from  the  husks  :  accordingly,  to  hull  peas,  is  to  shell 
them ;  to  hull  oysters,  to  open  them.     Southern. 

Hum.  a  vulgar  pronunciation  of  home ;  as,  " My  old  man  ain't  to  hum" 
i.  e.  is  not  at  home.     New  England. 

Well,  well,  I  know  it  now  —  "hum  is  hum,  be  it  ever  so  humbly."  I  am  desperd 
sick  of  being  in  strange  parts.  I  wish  I  was  at  hum  agin,  under  mother's  own  ruflT, 
I  guess  — I  know  I  do.  — D.  Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  England. 

When  is  chaiity  like  a  top  ?     When  it  begins  to  hum.  —  Baltimore  Sun. 

Human,  for  human  being.    Western. 

As  I  was  lookin'  down  the  gully  I  espied  a  mighty  big  bear,  that  was  travcUin'  my 
way.  I  had  no  idee  that  he  was  around,  and  am  quite  sartin  he  did  n't  expect  to 
meet  a  human  in  such  a  place.  —  Hammond,  Wild  Northern  Scenes,  p.  224. 

Parson  Brownlow,  the  editor  of  the  Knoxville  Whig,  is  just  as  fierce  upon*  dogs 
when  they  annoy  him  as  he  is  upon  the  humans  who  cross  his  path.  —  Harper's  Mag. 
Dec.  1857,  p.  136. 

What  brings  a  duck  a  streaking  it  down  stream  if  humans  ain't  behind  her  ?  and 
who's  in  these  diggins  but  Indians  ?  —  Ruxton's  Fur  West,  p.  79. 

The  subject  of  woman,  my  dear  liearers,  is  a  difficult,  a  tender,  and  a  delicate  one. 
Woman,  primarily,  was  a  sort  of  second-hand  human,  or,  I  might  say,  the  carnated 
superfluity  of  man.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  IIL 

HuJiBLT.     A  vulgar  mispronunciation  of  homely. 

Hung.  In  England  it  occasionally  happens  that  great  offenders  are  hanged; 
but  in  the  States  and  Canada  criminals  are  never  hanged,  they  are  all 
hung.  In  England,  beef  is  hung^  gates  are  hung,  and  curtains  are  hung  ; 
but  felons  are  hanged ;  in  Canada,  felons,  beef,  gates,  and  curtains  are 
all  treated  the  same  way.  —  Rev.  A.  C.  Geihie,  in  Canadian  Journal, 
Sept  1857. 


208  HUN  — HUE 

Hung  Beep.     Dried  beef,  so  called  from  being  hung  up  in  the  air  to  dry. 

The  hams  were  cut  out,  sliglitly  salted,  and  hung  up  i.i  the  chimney  to  dry,  and 
thus  became  dried  or  hung  beef. —  Goodrich's  Reminiscences,  Vol.  I.  p.  66. 

Hunk.  1.  A  large  piece  or  slice;  a  big  lump.  Ex.  "A  great  ^wn^  of  bread 
and  cheese."  It  is  a  variation  of  the  word  hunch,  which  is  used  in  Eng- 
land in  precisely  the  same  manner.     See  Grose  and  Moor's  glossaries. 

2.  (Dutch,  honk.)  Place,  post,  home.  A  word  descended  from  the 
Dutch  children,  and  much  used  by  New  York  boys  in  their  play.  "  To 
be  hunk"  or  " all  hunk"  is  to  have  reached  the  goal  or  place  of  meeting 
without  being  intercepted  by  one  of  the  opposite  party,  to  be  all  safe. 

This  word  has  also  made  its  way  into  political  life.  In  a  debate  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  of  New  York  (December,  1856),  on  the  purchase 
of  certain  grounds  on  the  East  River  for  a  market  site.  Alderman  Ely 
said : 

Mr.  L had  filled  in  and  made  this  ground  in  the  waters  of  the  East  River 

without  authority ;  and  now  he  felt  himself  all  hunk,  and  wanted  to  get  this  enor- 
mous sum  out  of  the  city.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Dec.  .30,  1856. 

Hunkers.  Those  who  cling  to  the  homestead  or  to  old  principles.  A 
nickname  given  in  the  State  of  New  York  to  the  conservative  wing  of  the 
Democratic  party  as  opposed  to  the  Young  Democracy,  or  Barnburners. 
They  are  often  called  Old  Hunkers. 

Senator  A has  long  coveted,  and  finally  obtained,  a  leading  position.    He  is 

now  the  leader  of  the  hunkers  of  Missouri  —  a  noble  band,  with  just  seven  principles, 
and  a  foresight  the  exact  length  of  their  noses.  —  New  York  Evening  Post,  July  11, 
1849. 

Hunkerism.  The  doctrines  of  the  Conservative  Democracy,  or  Old  Hunk- 
ers. 

To  Hunt.  To  search  for.  "  Kitty  is  hunting  her  bonnet."  "  Tom,  hunt 
up  the  black  boy,"  i.  e.  look  for  him. 

To  Hunt  for  Meat.  At  the  Far  West  the  hunter  hunts  for  meat,  when 
in  search  of  food,  in  contradistinction  to  hunting  for  skins. 

Hunting-Shirt.  A  blowse  or  shirt  originally  made  of  deerskin  and  high- 
ly ornamented,  worn  by  trappers  and  hunters  as  well  as  by  travellers  on 
the  Western  frontier. 

A  light,  figured,  and  fringed  hunting-shirt  of  cotton  covered  his  body,  while  leg- 
gings of  deerskin  rose  to  his  knee.  —  Cooper,  Oak  Openings. 
Rise  up,  Fremont !  and  go  before  ; 

The  hour  must  have  its  man  ; 
Put  on  the  hunting-shirt  once  more. 
And  lead  in  Freedom's  van  !  —  Whittier. 

Hurra's  Nest.     A  state  of  confusion.     A  woman's  word. 


HUR  — HUS  209 

•*  Now  just  look  at  you,  Mr.  Jones  !  I  declare !  it  gives  me  a  chill  to  see  you  go 
to  a  drawer.     What  do  you  want  1     Tell  me  !  and  I  will  get  it  for  you," 

Mrs.  Jones  springs  to  the  side  of  her  husband,  who  has  gone  to  the  bureau  for 
something;  and  puslies  him  away. 

"  There  now  !  Just  look  at  the  hurra's  nest  you  hare  made  !  What  do  you  want, 
Mr.  Jones  1"  —  Arthur's  Ladies'  Magazine, 

"  Hallo,"  says  she,  "  liere's  the  devil  to  pay,  and  no  pitch  hot  Are  you  goin'  to 
kill  that  boy  ?  Here's  a  pretty  hurra's  nest ;  let  me  see  one  of  you  dare  to  lay  hands 
on  this  piccanniny."  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p,  59. 

I  lay  till  after  daylight,  and  then  one  of  ray  comrades  shook  me,  to  tell  me  that 
the  Indian  boys  had  found  a  hurra's  nest.  Out  I  went,  and  about  a  hundred  yards 
from  camp  there  war  an  old  buffalo  bull  with  a  hundred  little  screeching  imps  about 
him  with  their  bows  and  arrows,  —  Crockett's  Adventures. 

Hurricane.  (W.  Ind.  tirican.)  This  word  does  not  appear  in  any  Eng- 
lish dictionary  before  1720,  when  Phillips  notices  it  as  a  word  denoting 
"  a  violent  storm  of  wind,  which  often  happens  in  Jamaica  and  other  parts 
of  the  West  Indies,  making  very  great  havoc  and  overthrow  of  trees, 
houses,  etc."  Other  dictionaries  of  a  later  period  describe  it  as  a  violent 
wind  in  the  West  Indies.  It  is  the  Carib  name  for  a  high  wind,  such  as 
is  described  by  Phillips,  and  was  doubtless  carried  by  seamen  to  Europe, 
whence  it  became  introduced  into  various  languages, 

I  shall  next  speak  of  hurricanes.  Tliese  are  violent  stonns,  raging  chiefly  among 
the  Caribee  Islands  ;  though  by  relation  Jamaica  has  of  late  years  been  much  an- 
noyed by  them.  They  are  expected  in  July,  August,  or  September.  —  Dampier, 
Voyages,  Vol.  II.  ch.  6. 

To  its  covert  glides  the  silent  bird, 

While  the  hurricane's  distant  voice  is  heard 

Uplifted  among  the  mountains  round. 

And  the  forests  hear  and  answer  the  sound.  —  Bryant,  The  Hurricane, 

HuRRYMENT.     Hurry ;  confusion.     Southern. 

I  always  hate  to  kiss  old  women  what  hain't  got  no  teeth  ;  and  I  was  monstrous 
glad  old  Miss  Stallins  had  her  handkerchief  to  her  face,  for  in  the  hurryment  I  kissed 
it.  —  Major  Jones's  Travels. 

Hurry  up  the  Cakes,  i.  e.  Be  quick ;  look  alive.  This  phrase,  which 
has  lately  got  into  vogue,  originated  in  the  common  New  York  eating- 
houses,  where  it  is  the  custom  for  the  waiters  to  bawl  out  the  name  of 
each  dish  as  fast  as  ordered,  that  the  person  who  serves  up  may  get  it 
ready  without  delay,  and  where  the  order,  " Hurry  up  them  cokes"  etc 
is  frequently  heard. 

If  you  have  any  communications  to  make,  hurry  them  up,  hot  and  hasty,  like  buck- 
wheat cakes  at  a  cheap  eating-house.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  p.  51. 

To  Hush  up.     To  cease  speaking,  to  be  silent,  to  hush.     To  dry  up,  and 

to  shut  up,  are  other  vulgar  expressions  with  the  same  meaning. 

Husking.     The  act  of  stripping  off  husks  from  Indian  com ;  generally 

18* 


210  HYP  — HYS 

called  "  shucking "  in  the  South  and  "West.  In  New  England,  it  is  the 
custom  for  farmers  to  invite  their  friends  to  assist  them  in  this  task.  The 
ceremonies  on  these  occasions,  called  also  Husking  Bees  and  Husking  Frol- 
ics, are  well  described  by  Joel  Barlow,  in  his  poem  on  Hasty  Pudding : 

For  now,  the  cow-house  fill'd,  the  harvest  home, 

Th'  invited  neighbors  to  the  husking  come  ; 

A  frolic  scene,  where  work  and  mirth  and  play 

Unite  their  charms  to  chase  the  hours  away. 

The  laws  of  husking  every  wight  can  tell ; 

And  sure  no  laws  he  ever  keeps  so  well : 

For  each  red  ear  a  gen'ral  kiss  he  gains. 

With  each  smut  ear  she  smuts  the  luckless  swains ; 

But  when  to  some  sweet  maid  a  prize  is  cast, 

Red  as  her  lips,  and  taper  as  her  waist, 

She  walks  around,  and  culls  one  favor'd  beau, 

"Who  leaps,  the  luscious  tribute  to  bestow. 

Various  the  sport,  as  are  the  wits  and  brains 

Of  well-pleas'd  lasses  and  contending  swains  ; 

Till  the  vast  mound  of  corn  is  swept  away. 

And  he  that  gains  the  last  ear  wins  the  day. —  Canto  3. 
He  talked  of  a  turkey-hunt,  a  husking-bee,  thanksgiving  ball,  racing,  and  a  variety 
of  things.  —  Margaret,  p.  48. 

He  counts  his  cousin  Phebe  no  better  in  her  home  upon  the  Avenue  than  when  she 
played  barefooted  at  the  old  husking-frolics  of  Newtown.  —  Ike  Marvel,  Fudge 
Doings. 

Hypo.     An  abbreviation  of  hypochondria. 

The  old  man  would  give  up  to  the  hypo  and  keep  his  bed  for  weeks.  During  this 
time  he  would  n't  say  a  word,  but  "I'm  not  long  for  tills  world."  — Haliburton,  The 
Americans  at  Home,  Vol.  I.  p.  176. 

Htst.  (Corruption  of  hoist.)  A  violent  fall.  Ex.  "  His  foot  slipped,  and 
he  got  a  hyst."  Mr.  J.  C.  Neal  thus  discourses  on  this  word :  A  fall,  for 
instance,  is  indeterminate.  It  may  be  an  easy  slip  down  —  a  gentle  vis- 
itation of  mother  earth ;  but  a  hyst  is  a  rapid,  forcible  performance, 
which  may  be  done  either  backward  or  forward,  but  of  necessity  with 
such  violence  as  to  knock  the  breath  out  of  the  body,  or  it  is  unworthy  of 
the  noble  appellation  of  hysi.  It  is  an  apt  but  figurative  mode  of  ex- 
pression, and  it  is  often  carried  still  further ;  for  people  sometimes  say, 
"  Lower  him  up,  and  hyst  him  down."  —  Charcoal  Sketches. 

I  can't  see  the  ground,  and  every  dark  night  am  sure  to  get  a  hyst  —  either  a  for- 

rerd  hyst  or  a  backerd  hyst,  or  some  sort  of  a  hyst,  but  more  backerds  than  forrerds.  — 

J.  C.  Neal,  Sketches. 

One  of  the  most  unfeelin'  tricks  I  know  of  is  the  way  some  folks  have  got  of 

laughing  out  when  they  see  a  gentleman  catching  a  regular  hyst,  with  liis  legs  in  the 

air,  and  his  noddle  splat  down  on  the  cold  bricks.    A  hyst  is  bad  enough  without 

being  sniggered  at. — New  England  Tales. 


I— IMM  211 

Pity,  kind  gentle  folks,  friends  of  humanity, 

Twig  how  tlie  pavements  are  covered  with  ice ; 
Sprinkle  the  sidewalks  witii  ashes  for  charity, 

Scatter  the  ashes  and  save  us  a  hyst. 

(  Wash.)  Evening  Star,  Feb.  4,  1857. 

I. 

I  Dad  !     An  exclamation  used  in  the  "Western  States. 

"  I  dad !  if  I  did  n't  snatch  up  Ruff  and  kiss  him."  Here  the  emotion  of  the  old 
man  made  a  pause.  —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  179. 

Ilk.  In  Scotland  and  the  North  of  England  it  signifies  the  same;  as, 
"Mackintosh  of  that  ilk"  denotes  a  gentleman  whose  surname  and  the 
title  of  his  estate  are  the  same ;  as  "  Mackintosh  of  Mackintosh."  — 
Worcester. 

By  a  curious  perversion,  political  newspaper  "writers  in  America  often 
use  the  phrase  " of  that  ilk"  in  the  sense  of  " of  that  sort,  stamp,  class." 
Thus  the  Baltimore  Sun  of  the  15  th  of  May,  1854,  says : 

"  The  Journal  of  Commerce  and  the  True  Democrat  both  denounce  in  advance 
the  meeting  called  in  the  New  York  Park,  Saturday  afternoon  [to  censure  Senator 
Douglas's  Nebraska  Bill],  as  a  thorough  abolition  demonstration  :  in  proof  of 
whicli  the  names  of  John  Van  Buren,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  and  others  of  that  ilk, 
that  were  promised  to  speak,  are  referred  to. 

III.  Vicious.  This  strange  application  of  the  word  is  common  in  Texas ; 
as,  "  Is  your  dog  ill  ?  "  meaning,  is  he  vicious.  —  Olmsted's  Texas,  p.  78. 

Illy.  A  word  used  by  writers  of  an  inferior  class,  who  do  not  seem  to  per- 
ceive that  ill  is  itself  an  adverb,  without  the  termination  ly.  The  late  Dr. 
Messer,  President  of  Brown  University,  on  seeing  this  word  in  a  compo- 
sition submitted  to  his  critical  inspection,  asked  of  the  student  who  pre- 
sented it,  "  Why  don't  you  say  welly  ?  " 

Distressed  as  my  mind  is,  and  has  been  by  a  variety  of  attentions  ;  I  am  illy  able 
by  letter  to  give  you  the  satisfaction  I  could  Avish  on  the  subjects  of  your  letter.  — 
Letter,  of  Richard  II.  Lee  to  his  Sister,  1778. 

"  My  good  friend,"  said  the  man  of  gravity,  "  have  you  not  undergone  what  they 
call  hard  times ;  been  set  upon  and  persecuted,  and  very  illy  entreated,  by  some  of 
your  fellow-creatmes  1"  —  Putnam's  Monthly,  August,  1854. 

Immediately,  for  as  soon  as.  Ex.  "The  deer  fell  dead  immediately  they 
shot  him." 

Immigrant.  A  person  that  removes  into  a  country  for  the  purpose  of  a 
permanent  residence.  —  Webster. 

Immigration.  (Lat.  immigratio.)  The  passing  or  removing  into  a  coun- 
try for  the  purpose  of  a  permanent  residence.  —  Webster. 


212  IMP  — IMP 

The  immigrations  of  the  Arabians  into  Europe,  and  the  Crusades,  produced  num- 
berless accounts,  partly  true  and  partly  fabulous,  of  the  wonders  seen  in  Eastern 
countries.  —  Warton's  Hist.  Eng.  Poetry,  Vol.  I. 

Immigration  has  doubtless  been  a  prolific  source  of  multiplying  words.  — Hamil- 
ton, Nugce  Literarice,  p.  381. 

Mr.  Pickering,  in  his  Vocabulary,  observes  that  this  word,  as  well  as 
immigrant  and  the  verb  to  immigrate,  were  first  used  in  this  country  by 
Dr.  Belknap,  in  his  History  of  New  Hampshire,  who  gives  his  reasons 
for  their  use.  Immigrant  is  original  with  Dr.  B. ;  but  the  others  have 
long  been  used  by  good  English  authors,  though  of  course  less  firequently 
than  by  American  writers,  who  have  more  need  of  them. 

To  Improve.  1.  To  render  more  valuable  by  additions,  as  houses,  bams, 
or  fences  on  a  farm.  Thus  we  frequently  see  advertisements  of  a  piece 
of  ground  improved  by  a  dwelling  and  out-houses. 

Where  lands  lye  in  common  unfenced,  if  one  man  shall  improve  his  land  by  fenc- 
ing in  several,  and  another  shall  not,  he  who  shall  improve  shall  secure  liis  lands 
against  other  men's  cattle.  —  Mass,  Colony  Laws,  1642. 

2,  To  occupy  ;  to  make  use  of,  employ.  Thus  some  persons  speak  of 
an  "  improved "  or  an  "  unimproved "  house,  meaning  one  occupied  or 
unoccupied.  "  This  word,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  "  in  the  first  sense,  is  in 
constant  use  in  all  parts  of  New  England ;  but  in  the  second  sense 
(when  applied  to  persons,  as  in  the  following  example),  it  is  not  so  com- 
mon." 

In  action  of  trespass  against  several  defendants,  the  plaintiffs  may,  after  issue  is 
closed,  strike  out  any  of  them  for  the  purpose  of  improving  them  as  witnesses.  — 
Swift's  System  of  the  Colony  Laws  of  Connecticut,  Vol.  II.  p.  238. 

In  a  petition  from  a  Baptist  society  in  the  town  of  Newport,  R.  I.,  in 
1783,  for  relief,  they  say: 

Our  meeting-house  has  been  improved  as  a  hospital  by  the  English  and  afterwards 
by  the  French  army,  and  so  much  injured  as  not  to  admit  of  being  repaired.  —  Acts 
of  Assembly,  Rhode  Island,  June,  1783. 

Dr.  Franklin,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  "Webster,  dated  Dec.  26th,  1789,  has 
the  following  remarks :  "When  I  left  New  England  in  the  year  1723, 
this  word  had  never  been  used  among  us,  as  far  as  I  know,  but  in  the 
sense  of  ameliorated  or  made  better,  except  once,  in  a  very  old  book  of 
Dr.  Mather's,  entitled  Remarkable  Providences." 

Ann  Cole,  a  person  of  serious  piety,  living  in  Hartford,  in  1662,  was  taken  with 
very  strange  fits,  whereon  her  tongue  was  improved  by  a  demon,  to  express  things 
unknown  to  herself.  —  Cotton  Mather,  Magnolia,  Book  VI. 

Impkovkment.  The  part  of  a  discourse  intended  to  enforce  and  apply  the 
doctrines  is  called  the  improvement.  —  Webster.  Mr.  Pickering  has  shown 
that  the  word  is  used  also  by  Scottish  writers. 

The  conclusion  is  termed,  somewhat  inaccurately,  making  an  improvement  of  the 


IMP  — IND  213 

whole.     The  author,  we  presume,  means,  deducing  from  the  whole  what  may  con- 
tribute to  the  general  improvement.  — British  Critic,  Vol.  I.  p.  379. 

Improvements.  Valuable  additions  or  ameliorations ;  as  buildings,  clear- 
ings, drains,  fences  on  a  farm.  —  Webster. 

Ik,  for  info.  Mr.  Coleman,  in  remarking  upon  the  prevalence  of  this  inac- 
curacy in  New  York,  says :  "  We  get  in  the  stage,  and  have  the  rheuma- 
tism into  our  knees."  —  N^.  Y.  Evening  Post,  Jan.  6,  1814.  An  observ- 
ing English  friend  at  Philadelphia  also  speaks  of  its  fi-equent  use  there  in 
the  following  terms :  "  The  preposition  into  is  almost  unknown  here. 
They  say,  '  When  did  you  come  in  town  ? '  *  I  met  him  riding  in 
town.'  "  —  Pickering. 

Inaugural.  The  address  of  a  public  officer  on  his  inauguration  into  office ; 
an  inaugural  address.  Ex.  "  Have  you  read  the  President's  inau- 
gural 1 " 

Inca.  (Kechua.)  The  title  of  a  king  or  prince  of  Peru,  before  its  con- 
quest by  the  Spaniards. 

Indebtedness.  The  state  of  being  indebted.  —  Chancellor  Kent.  A 
modem  word,  reputed  of  American  origin ;  not  often  used  by  English 
writers,  yet  it  is  found  in  the  recent  English  dictionaries  of  Ivnowles  and 
Smart.  —  Worcester. 

Independence  Dat.  The  fourth  day  of  July,  the  day  on  which  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  renounced  their  subjection  to  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  declared  their  independence. 

Independent  Fortune.  A  fortune  which  renders  one  independent ;  as, 
"  Mr.  Girard,  by  his  industry  and  ability,  accumulated  an  independent 
fortune." 

Indian  Bed.  An  Indian  led  of  clams  is  made  by  setting  a  number  of 
clams  together  on  the  ground  with  the  hinge  uppermost,  and  then  kind- 
ling over  them  a  fire  of  brushwood,  which  is  kept  burning  till  they  are 
thoroughly  roasted.  This  Ls  the  best  way  of  roasting  clams,  and  is  often 
practised  by  picnic  parties.     See  Clambake. 

Indian  Bread.  Bread  or  cake  made  of  the  meal  of  Indian  com  or 
maize ;  also  called  Johnny  cake. 

If  I  don't  make  a  johnny  cake  every  day,  Rier  says,  "  Ma,  why  don't  you  make 
some  Indian  bread  ?"  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  70. 

Indian  Corn.    Maize ;  so  called  because  cultivated  by  the  aborigines. 

Indian  Corn-hills.    A  term  given  to  hillocks  covering  broad  fields  near 


214  IND  — IND 

the  ancient  mounds  and  earthworks  of  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  etc.  They  are 
without  order  or  arrangement,  being  scattered  over  the  surface  with  the 
utmost  irregularity.  That  these  mammillary  elevations  were  formed  in 
the  manner  indicated  by  their  name,  is  inferred  from  the  present  custom 
of  the  Indians.  The  corn  is  planted  in  the  same  spot  each  successive 
year,  and  the  soil  is  gradually  brought  up  to  the  size  of  a  little  hill  by 
the  annual  additions.  —  LapharrCs  Antiquities  of  Wisconsin,  Smithso- 
nian Contributions. 

These  antique  corn-hills  were  unusually  large,  and  were,  as  the  Iroquois  informed 
me,  three  or  four  times  the  diameter  of  modern  hills,  a  size  which  resulted  from  the 
want  of  a  plough.  — Schookraft's  Indian  Tribes,  Vol.  I.  p.  57. 

Indian  Currant.     See  Coral  Berry. 

Indian  Fig.  The  fruit  of  a  gigantic  plant  (Cereus  giganteus)  of  the 
Cactus  family,  known  among  the  Indians  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona 
as  the  Pitahaya,  the  fruit  of  which  resembles  the  fig  in  taste.  —  Bart- 
lett's  Pers.  Narrative,  Vol.  II.  p.  189. 

Indian  File.  Single  file ;  the  usual  way  in  which  the  Indians  traverse 
the  woods  or  march  to  battle,  one  following  after  and  treading  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  other. 

Magna  arose  and  gave  the  signal  to  proceed,  marching  himself  in  advance. 
They  followed  their  leader  singly,  and  in  that  well-known  order  which  has  obtained 
the  distinguisliing  appellation  of  Indian  JUe.  —  Cooper,  Last  of  the  Mohicans. 

Indian  Gift.  A  term  proverbially  applied  to  any  thing  reclaimed  after 
being  given. 

Indian  Giver.  "When  an  Indian  gives  any  thing,  he  expects  to  receive 
an  equivalent,  or  to  have  his  gift  returned.  This  term  is  applied  by 
children  to  a  child  who,  after  having  given  away  a  thing,  wishes  to  have 
it  back  again. 

Indian  Hemp.     {Apocynum  cannabinum.)     A  medicinal  plant. 

Indian  Ladder.  A  ladder  made  of  a  small  tree  by  trimming  it  so  as  to 
leave  only  a  few  inches  of  each  branch  as  a  support  for  the  foot.  South- 
em. 

Having  provided  ourselves  with  a  long  snagged  sapling,  called  an  Indian  ladder, 
we  descended  safely  to  tlie  bottom  of  the  grotto.  —  Bartram's  Florida,  p.  247. 

Indian  Liquor.     Whiskey  adulterated  for  sale  to  the  Indians. 

A  citizen  of  St.  Paul  furnishes  some  pretty  hard  papers  on  his  fellow  sinners  who 
trade  with  the  North- Western  Indians.  He  says  a  barrel  of  the  "  pure  Cincinnati," 
even  after  it  has  run  the  gauntlet  of  railroad  and  lake  travel,  is  a  sufficient  basis 
upon  which  to  manufacture  one  hundred  barrels  of  "good  Indian  liquor!"  He 
says  a  small  bucketful  of  the  Cincinnati  article  is  poured  into  a  wash-tub  almost  full 


IND  — IND  215 

of  rain  water ;  a  large  quantity  of  "  dog-leg  "  tobacco  and  red  pepper  is  then  thrown 
into  the  tub;  a  bitter  species  of  root,  common  in  "  the  land  of  the  Dakota,"  is  then 
cut  up  and  added ;  bm-nt  sugar  or  some  such  article  is  used  to  restore  something 
like  the  original  color  of  the  whiskey.  The  compound  has  to  be  kept  on  hand  a 
few  days  before  it  is  fit  for  use.  It  is  then  administered  to  the  aborigines  ad  libitum. 
Nat.  Intelligencer,  July  10,  1858. 

Indian  Meal.  Meal  made  from  Indian  corn.  A  mixture  of  the  flour  of 
wheat  and  maize  is  called  wheat  and  Indian. 

Indian  Orchard.  An  old  orchard  of  imgrafted  apple-trees,  the  time  of 
planting  being  unknown.     New  York. 

Indian  Peaches.  Ungrafted  peach-trees,  which  are  considered  to  be 
more  thrifty  and  to  bear  larger  fruit  than  the  others. 

Indian  Physic.     See  Bowman's  Boot. 

Indian  Pipe.     See  Wax  Plant. 

Indian  Pudding.  A  pudding,  the  chief  ingredients  of  which  are  Indian 
meal  and  molasses. 

As  to  grandmother's  Indian  puddings — alas  !  I  ehall  never  see  their  like  again.  — 
Goodrich's  Reminiscences,  Vol.  I.  p.  371. 

Indian  Reservation  or  Reserve.  A  tract  of  land  reserved  for  the 
use  of  Indians. 

Indian  Sign.  Signs  of  the  recent  presence  of  Indians  in  the  wUdemess. 
See  Sign. 

Indian  Summer.  A  writer  in  the  National  Intelligencer  for  November 
26,  1857,  has  the  following  remarks  on  this  topic:  —  "The  short  season 
of  pleasant  weather  usually  occurring  about  the  middle  of  November,  is 
called  the  Indian  Summer,  from  the  custom  of  the  Indians  to  avail  them- 
selves of  this  delightful  time  for  harvesting  their  com ;  and  the  tradition 
is  that  they  were  accustomed  to  say  '  they  always  had  a  second  summer 
of  nine  days  just  before  the  winter  set  in.'  It  is  a  bland  and  genial 
time,  in  which  the  birds,  insects,  and  plants  feel  a  new  creation,  and  sport 
a  short-lived  summer  ere  they  shrink  finally  from  the  rigor  of  the  win- 
ter's blast.  The  sky  in  the  mean  time  is  generally  filled  with  a  haze  of 
orange  and  gold  intercepting  the  direct  rays  of  the  sim,  yet  possessing 
enough  of  light  and  heat  to  prevent  sensations  of  gloom  or  chill,  while 
the  nights  grow  sharp  and  frosty,  and  the  necessary  fires  give  cheerful 
forecast  of  the  social  winter  evenings  hear  at  hand. 

"  This  season  is  synonymous  Avith  the  *  Summer  of  St.  Martin '  of 
Europe,  which  derives  its  name  from  the  festival  of  St.  Martin,  held  on 
the  11th  of  November.  Shakspeare  alludes  to  it  in  the  first  part  of 
Henry  IV. : 


216  IND— INH 

'  Farewell  thou  latter  spring ! 
Farewell  all  hallown  summer ! ' 

"  And  more  expressively  in  the  first  part  of  Henry  VI. : 

'  This  night  the  siege  assuredly  I  '11  raise ; 
Expect  St.  Martin's  summer,  halcyon  days.' " 

Indian  Tobacco.  (Lobelia  inflata.)  A  plant  whose  leaves  contain  a 
poisonous,  white,  viscid  juice,  of  an  acrid  taste. 

Indian  Turnip.  1.  (Arum  triphyUum.)  The  root  of  an  acrid  and  pow- 
erful poison  when  fresh. 

2.  (Psoralea  esculenta.)  A  common  root  in  the  West,  much  used  by 
the  Sioux  Indians  as  food.  It  is  also  called  Pomme  Blanche  and  Pomme 
de  Prairie. 

Indians.  The  name  improperly  given  by  early  navigators  to  the  abo- 
rigines of  America,  in  the  behef  that  the  country  they  inhabited  was  the 
eastern  portion  of  India,  a  name  then  applied  to  far  eastern  Asia.  The 
Spaniards,  until  within  the  present  century,  applied  the  name  of  "India" 
and  "  Indies  "  to  their  possessions  in  America ;  and  even  now,  it  is  said 
that  in  Seville,  the  department  or  office  where  the  business  of  America 
is  transacted,  and  which  in  England  would  be  called  the  "  Colonial 
Office,"  is  known  as  the  "  India  House." 

Indignation  Meeting.  A  public  meeting  called  by  a  political  or  other 
party,  for  the  purpose  of  devising  means  to  correct  an  alleged  or  real 
public  abuse. 

Instead  of  those  indignation  meetings  set  on  foot  in  the  time  of  William  the  Testy, 
where  men  met  together  to  rail  at  public  abuses,  groan  over  the  evils  of  the  times, 
and  make  each  other  miserable,  there  were  joyous  meetings  of  the  two  sexes  to 
dance  and  make  merry.  —  Irving,  Knickerbocker. 

The  public  looked  chiefly  to  the  press  for  advice  and  information  as  to  their  rights 
and  duties,  and  had  resolved  that  it  should  not  be  gagged  and  put  down  by  "  illegal 
orders,  attaclmients,  fines  and  imprisonments  for  imaginary  contempts  against  courts 
which  cannot  be  reduced  much  lower  than  they  have  reduced  themselves."  So  said 
the  resolutions  of  the  indignation  meeting  of  the  9th  March,  1 851 ;  and  this  language 
was  generally  applauded. — Annals  of  San  Francisco,  p.  324. 

Infair.  The  "reception"  party  or  entertainment  of  a  newly  married 
couple.     West  and  South. 

The  infair,  or  wedding  supper,  was  all  ready,  we  were  marshalled  to  our  seats ; 
and  a  most  sumptuous  feast  it  was.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  59. 

To  Inheaven.     a  word  invented  by  the  Boston  transcendentalists. 

The  one  circumflows  and  inheavens  us.  The  infinite  Father  bears  us  in  his  bosom, 
shepherd  and  flock.  — Margaret,  p.  412. 


INS  — IS  217 

Institution.  A  flash  word  of  recent  introduction  as  applied  to  any  pre- 
valent practice  or  thing. 

The  driving  of  vehicles  is  a  great  institution  among  us,  and  may  be  safely  said  to 
constitute  almost  the  only  out-door  amusement  of  the  majority  of  our  male  popula- 
tion. The  ambition  of  every  fast  man,  young  or  old,  is  to  possess  a  M'agon  with  one 
or  two  trotting  horses  attached.  —  N.  Y.  Herald. 

Garroting,  as  an  institution,  may  be  said  to  be  almost  extinct  in  New  York.  It 
went  out  of  fashion  in  a  desperate  hurry  immediately  after  a  sensible  judge  sen- 
tenced three  garroters  to  the  state  prison,  one  for  life,  the  others  for  twenty-one 
years  each.  —  Tricks  and  Traps  of  New  York,  p.  47. 

Wliatever  small  thinkers  and  small  actors  may  attempt,  woman  cannot  be  counted 
out  and  classified  as  a  mere  appendage.  She  is  an  institution,  and  hereafter  must 
receive  the  most  generous  culture  and  recognition,  if  man  and  society  are  ever  to  be 
more  than  they  have  been  in  times  past.  — H.  L.  Stuart,  in  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Aug.  11, 
1858. 

A  very  unwholesome  object,  the  carcass  of  a  large  dog,  has  been  snflfered  to  lie  in 
Ninth  street,  near  D,  since  Tuesday,  although  most  abominably  offensive  and  un- 
healthy. A  similar  institution  has  occupied  a  site  on  the  commons  for  some  time 
past,  filling  the  air  with  noxious  odors.  —  (  Wash.)  Evening  Star,  July,  1858. 

From  the  following  example,  it  appears  that  this  use,  or  rather  abuse, 
of  the  word,  is  not  confined  to  this  country : 

The  camels  form  an  institution  of  India,  —  possibly  a  part  of  the  traditional  po- 
licy, and  they  must  be  respected  accordingly. — London  Times  Cor.  from  India, 
April,  1858. 

To  Interfere.  "  He  interfered  with  me,"  in  the  West,  generally  implies 
rough  usage. 

Interval,  or  Intervale.  Low  or  alluvial  land  on  the  margins  of  rivers ; 
so  called  in  New  England.  Similar  land  is  called,  in  the  Western  States, 
"  bottom  land."  —  Worcester. 

The  interval  intended  in  New  England  geography  is  the  inter^'al  or  space  between 
a  river  and  the  mountains,  which  on  both  sides  uniformly  accompany  its  course  at  a 
greater  or  less  distance  from  its  margin.  Hence  interval  lands  include  meadow  and 
uplands,  and  in  general  the  whole  of  the  narrow  vaUey  through  which,  in  these 
regions,  the  rivers  flow.  — Kendall's  Travels,  Vol.  III.  p.  183. 

Irish.  Temper,  anger.  Col.  Dick  Johnson,  of  Tecumseh  reputation, 
used  this  Western  substantive  in  one  of  his  Eastern  speeches :  "  My 
friends  say  that  my  Irish  is  getting  up,"  meaning,  I  am  getting  angry. 

Irish  Potato.  A  term  used  throughout  the  country  to  distinguish  the  com- 
mon (^Solanum  tuberosuin)  from  the  sweet  potato  (^Convolvulus  hatalas). 

Is.  Some  American  grammarians  condemn  such  expressions  as  "  He  is 
come,  arrived,  returned,  gone ;  was  come,"  etc,  universal  in  England  and 
occurring  everywhere,  in  the  Bible  and  the  best  writers.  No  English- 
man would  say  "  the  boat  has  gone,"  "  has  come ; "  he  would  say  "  he 

19  • 


218  IRO  — JAC 

has  gone  to  London  many  a  time,"  —  "  he  has  come  several  miles  to  no 
purpose,"  —  "  he  has  returned  by  a  different  road." 

The  difference  in  meaning  is  obvious,  and  contributes  to  enrich  the  lan- 
guage. In  the  former  expression  gone,  arrived,  etc.,  are  real  participial 
adjectives,  expressing  a  permanent  state ;  in  the  latter  they  are  verbs. 

Iron  Weed.  (  Vernonia  novehoracensis^  A  plant,  called  in  the  North- 
eastern States  Flat  Top,  almost  the  only  tall  weed  foimd  in  the  beautiful 
"  woods  pastures  "  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.     "Western. 

Isabella  Grape.  A  cultivated  grape  of  Vitis  labrusca,  not  much  es- 
teemed for  its  wine  producing  qualities,  but  grown  for  table  use. 

Island.  In  prairie  regions,  the  same  terms  are  used  as  if  the  timber  were 
land,  and  the  prairie  water.  A  cluster  of  trees  is  called  an  island^ 
sometimes  a  mot,  —  a  small  strip  of  prairie  running  into  a  wood,  a  cove, 
and  a  larger  one,  a  hay. 

The  soil  of  the  prairies  is  deep  and  rich ;  but,  being  of  a  clayey  nature,  retains 
the  water  after  heavy  rains,  so  as  to  appear  flooded.  In  some  are  little  clumps  of 
trees  on  higher  ground,  which  are  called  islands.  —  Harris,  Journal  of  a  Tour, 
etc.,  p.  178. 

At  the  summit  of  the  hill  is  a  beautiful  grove,  or  island  of  timber,  where  the 
heroes  that  fell  at  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  sleep  their  last  sleep.  — A  Stray  Yankee 
in  Texas,  p.  252. 

Item.     Information  ;  as  "  I  got  item  of  his  being  in  town."     This  word  is 
used  among  Southern  gamblers  to  imply  information  of  what  cards  may 
be  in  their  partner's  or  opponent's  hands  ;  this  is  called  "  giving  item." 
Keep  your  eyes  skinned  and  your  rifles  clean,  and  the  minit  yer  get  item  that  I  'm 
back,  set  off  for  the  cross  roads,  etc.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 


J. 

To  Jab.     To  strike  or  thrust ;  as,  "  he  jahled  a  knife  into  me." 

Jacal.  (Span.,  pron.  hacal;  from  the  Mexican  xacalli,  a  straw  hut.)  A 
house  built  of  erect  stakes,  with  their  interstices  filled  with  mud.  They 
are  common  in  Texas  and  in  new  Spanish  settlements. 

The  modem  village  of  Goliad  is  composed  of  about  twenty  jacaZs,  large,  and  of  a 
compai-atively  comfortable  character,  scattered  over  two  hills.  —  Olmsted's  Texas, 
p.  262. 

Jackass  Rabbit.  {Lepus  callotis.)  A  rabbit,  found  on  the  high  plains 
of  Texas  and  near  the  Rocky  Mountains,  so  called  from  its  very  long 
ears  and  long  and  slender  legs.  It  is  known  also  by  the  names  of  Mule 
Rabbit,  Texan  Hare,  and  Black-tailed  Hare. 


JAC  — JEO  219 

Our  conversation  was  cut  short  by  &  jackass-rabbit  bounding  from  under  our  horses* 
feet.  —  Audubon's  Quadrupeds  of  North  America,  Vol.  II.  p.  95. 

The  jackass-rabbit  crossed  our  path  occasionally ;  but  it  sprang  up  so  suddenly, 
and  darted  through  the  low  bushes  or  chapparal  so  rapidly,  that  I  could  not  get  a 
shot  at  one.  — Bartlett's  New  Mexico,  Vol.  I.  p.  76. 

Jack-at-a-Pinch.    As  a  last  resort. 

The  fact  is.  Miss  Coon  feels  wonderfully  cut  up,  because  she  knows  that  her  hus- 
band took  her  Jack-at-a-pinch.  — Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  27. 

Jag.     a  parcel  or  load.  —  Halliwell.     And. so  in  New  England. 

As  there  was  very  little  money  in  the  country,  the  bank  bought  a  good  jag  on 't 
in  Europe.  —  Maj.  Downing' s  Letters,  p.  168. 

Jam  tjp.  A  slang  expression,  equivalent  to  the  English  "  slap  up,"  "  bang 
up,"  i.  6.  capital,  prime. 

There  must  have  been  a  charming  climate  in  Paradise.  The  temperature  was 
perfect,  and  connubial  bliss,  I  allot,  was  real  jam  up.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature, 
p.  273. 

Jamaica  Pepper.     See  Allspice. 

Jamestown  Weed.  (Pron.  Jimson  weed.)  The  Thorn  Apple  {Da- 
tura stramonium).  Its  Northern  name  is  Stinkweed.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  introduced  from  tropical  America,  and  to  have  been  first  observed 
about  Jamestown,  Virginia,  where  it  sprang  up  on  heaps  of  ballast 
and  other  rubbish  discharged  from  vessels;  whence  its  Southern 
name. 

The  Jamestown  weed  is  one  of  the  greatest  coolers  in  the  world.  It,  being  an  early 
plant,  was  gathered  very  young  for  a  boiled  salad  by  some  of  the  soldiers,  to  pacify 
the  troubles  of  bacon,  and  some  of  them  eat  plentifully  of  it,  the  effect  of  which 
was  a  very  pleasant  comedy ;  for  they  turned  natural  fools  upon  it  for  several  days. 
—  Beverly,  Hist,  of  Virginia,  Book  II. 

The  Jamestown  weed  is  excellent  for  curing  bums  and  assuaging  inflammations ; 
but  taken  inwardly  brings  on  a  sort  of  drunken  madness.  —  Lawson's  Carolina, 
1718,  p.  78. 

"  George,  did  you  ever  see  Sicily  Bums  1 "  "  Yes,  a  very  handsome  girl." 
"  Handsome  !  this  wurd  don't  kiver  the  case.  She  shows  among  wimen  like  a  sun- 
flower as  compared  to  dog-fennel,  an  smart  weed,  and  jimsen."  —  Sut  Luvengood's 
Experience. 

Japonicadom.  a  word  invented  by  N.  P.  Willis  to  denote  the  upper 
classes  of  society. 

I  To  Jeopardize.  To  expose  to  loss  or  injury.  —  Webster.  This  word  is 
i  often  seen  in  the  debates  of  Congress,  as  they  are  reported  in  the  news- 
I  papers.  It  is  doubtless  a  corruption  of  the  ancient  verb  to  Jeopard,  as 
deputize  is  of  depute.  —  Pickering.  The  word  is  much  used  in  the 
y^     United  States,  and  less  frequently  in  England. 


220  JER— JIG 

The  profound  respect  for  the  cause  of  truth  which  led  Mr.  Tooke  not  to  jeopardize 
its  interests  by  any  hasty  assumption  of  its  name  and  pretensions  for  a  discoTcry 
yet  incomplete,  constitutes  one  of  his  surest  holds  upon  posterity. — London  Athe- 
nceum,  March  18,  1848. 

A  horse,  with  a  wagon  attached,  took  fright  yesterday  afternoon  in  York  street, 
and  started  off  at  full  speed,  jeopardizing  the  lives  and  limbs  of  pedestrians.  One 
female,  with  a  child  in  her  arms,  narrowly  escaped  being  knocked  down  and  run 
over.  —  N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

Jerks,  and  Jerking  Exercise.  The  paroxysms  into  wliich  certain  reli- 
gious enthusiasts  fell  at  their  camp-meetings  in  the  West,  though  chiefly 
in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  It  consisted  in  being  jerked  in  all  direc- 
tions, and  over  whatever  object  happened  to  be  in  the  way.  In  these 
cases,  the  persons  affected  would  be  left  to  themselves,  because  the  peo- 
ple said,  that,  to  oppose  them,  would  be  to  resist  the  influences  of  the 
Spirit  of  God. 

Jessie.     "To  give  one  Jessie,"  means  to  give  him  a  flogging. 

Well,  boss,  you  've  slashed  the  hide  off  'er  that  feller,  touched  his  raw,  and 
rumpled  liis  feathers  —  that 's  the  way  to  give  him  jessy.  —  Rohb,  Squatter  Life, 
p.  33. 

Tiie  preacher  went  in  for  giving  Jessie  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  —  Doesticks, 
p.  105. 

It  is  represented  that  a  great  many  people  from  Salt  Lake  have  been  met,  and 
they  all  say  that  the  Mormons  arc  going  to  give  us  Jessie. — St  Louis  Republican, 
1857. 

The  Judge  [who  was  a  candidate  for  office]  had  to  stay  at  a  convenient  distance 
to  hear  that  Hoss  Allen  was  givuig  Mm  particular  Jesse.  —  Hoss  Allen's  Apology. 

To  Jew.  To  cheat.  To  Jew  a  person,  is  considered,  in  Western  parlance, 
a  shade  worse  than  to  "  Yankee  "  him. 

Jewhillikens  !     A  Western  exclamation  of  surprise. 

Did  n't  you  know  that  feller,  Arch  Cooney  1  He  was  a  hoss-fly.  He 's  a  few  I 
well  he  is.  Jewhilliken,  how  he  could  whip  a  nigger  !  and  swear  !  whew  !  —  Traits 
of  American  Humor. 

To  Jibe.  To  suit,  agree,  harmonize.  A  variation  of  to  gee,  which  last  is 
used  both  in  England  and  in  this  country. 

I  attempted  to  sing  the  words  of  "Old  Hundi-ed,"  while  the  lady  played  the 
Jenny  Lind  Polka,  which  didn't  seem  to  jibe. — Doesticks,  p.  113. 

Jig.     An  artificial  squid  for  trolling.     New  England. 

"  A  school  of  blue-fish  !  "  exclaimed  the  Professor,  as  his  eye  caught  the  move- 
ment to  which  I  pointed.  He  shouted  frantically  to  the  pilot  to  make  haste  with  the 
doiy,  and,  throwing  on  an  overcoat,  seized  from  the  locker  where  we  kept  our  fishing 
tackle  a  long,  stout  line,  at  the  end  of  wliich  was  a  shining,  spoon-shaped  piece  of 
pewter,  tenninated  by  a  large  hook.  This  apparatus  he  called  a,  jig.  — N.  Y.  Tri' 
bune,  July  22,  1858. 


JIG— JOR  221 

The  Jig  is  up,  i.  e.  the  game  is  up ;  it  is  all  over  with  me. 

The  time  was  when  I  could  cut  pigeon  wings  and  perform  the  double  shuffle  with 
precision  and  activity ;  but  those  days  are  over  now — the  jig  is  up.  —  Kendall,  Santa 
F€  Expedition,  Vol.  I.  p.  62. 

JiGAMAREE.  A  trivial  or  nonsensical  thing.  A  factitious  word,  equivalent 
to  "  jiggumbob "  and  "  thingumbob."  It  is  explained  in  the  English 
glossai'ies  to  mean  a  manoeuvre,  a  trick. 

He  is  also  the  inwentor  of  the  "  housekeeper's  friend,"  that  ere  jigamaree  the 
wimmin  scrubs  with,  instead  of  going  on  their  hands  and  knees  as  tliey  used  to.  — 
N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

I  went  over  t'other  night  to  see  them  all,  as  they  was  as  busy  as  bees  in  a  tar  barrel 
sowin'  and  makin'  up  fineiy.  Mary  was  sowin'  something  mighty  fine  with  ruffles 
and  jigamarees  all  around  it.  — Major  Jones's  Courtship. 

Jigger.     1.  See  Chigoe. 

2.  A  small  fishing  vessel.     New  England. 

JiGGLiNG-BoARD.  A  board  the  ends  of  which  are  placed  upon  frames  or 
stools,  upon  which  a  person  stands  and  springs  up  —  also  called  a  jolly- 
hoard. 

Johnny-Cake.  a  cake  made  of  Indian  meal  mixed  with  milk  or  water. 
A  New  England  Johnny-cake  is  invariably  spread  upon  the  stave  of  a 
barrel-top,  and  baked  before  the  fii-e.  Sometimes  stewed  pumpkin  is 
mixed  with  it. 

Some  talk  of  hoe-cake,  fair  Virginia's  pride ; 

Rich  Johnny-cake  this  mouth  has  often  tried. 

Both  please  me  well,  their  virtues  much  the  same  ; 

Alike  their  fabric,  as  allied  their  fame. 

Except  in  dear  New  England,  where  the  last 

Receives  a  dash  of  pumpkin  in  the  paste. 

Jod  Barlow,  Poem  on  Hasty  Pudding. 

Johnny  Jumi-  up  and  Kiss  me.  Johnny  Jump  up.  Johnny  Jump- 
er. Names  given  to  the  Heart's  Ease,  or  Violet.  This  name  is  also  given 
to  the  breastbone  of  a  goose,  with  its  two  ends  brought  together  by  a 
twisted  string  held  by  a  stick  passing  through  it  and  stuck  fast  at  the  end 
by  a  piece  of  wax. 

Jornada.  (Spanish.)  A  march  or  journey  performed  in  a  day.  In  the 
interior  it  is  only  applied  to  a  long  reach  of  desert  country  without  water, 
and  not  to  a  day's  journey ;  as  the  "  Jornada  del  Muerto "  in  New 
Mexico,  which  is  ninety  miles  across,  and  which  it  takes  several  days  to 
traverse. 

If  experiments  with  Artesian  wells  should  prove  successful,  the  progress  of  agii- 
culture  in  New  Mexico  would  be  more  rapid,  and  even  many  dreaded  Jornada^  might 
be  changed  from  waterless  deserts  into  cultivated  plains.  —  Wislizenus,  New  Mexico. 

19* 


222  JOS  — JUG 

Until  the  autumn  of  1849,  the  California  desert  was  found  to  be  a  sandy  and 
dreary  Jornada,  without  water  or  grass.  —  Captain  Whipple's  Explorations,  R.  R. 
Survey. 

JosEY.  A  loose,  light  upper  garment,  withi  sleeves  and  a  short  skirt,  now 
worn  by  women  and  girls.  Both  the  dress  and  the  name  are  contractions 
of  the  old-fashioned  Joseph. 

Jour,  or  Jur.  An  abbreviation  of  the  word  journeyman.  "  The  boss 
quarrelled  with  the  jurs"  i.  e.  the  master  quarrelled  with  his  journey- 
men. 

JuBA.  One  of  the  classical  names  often  given  to  negroes  by  their  masters. 
"  Clapping  Juha  "  is  keeping  time  by  striking  the  feet  on  the  floor  and 
clapping  the  hands  on  the  legs  to  the  music  of  the  banjo.  It  adds  much 
to  the  excitement  of  the  rustic  dances  at  the  South. 

Here  we  saw  rare  sport !  Here  were  Virginia  slaves,  dancing  jigs  and  clapping 
Juher,  over  a  barrel  of  persimmon  beer,  to  the  notes  of  the  banjo.  — Southern  Sketches, 
p.  98. 

Juber  up  and  Juher  down, 
Juher  all  around  de  town, 
Juher  dis  and  Juher  dat. 
And  Juber  round  de  simmon  vat. 

Hoe  corn  and  hill  tobacco, 
Get  over  double  trouble,  Juher  boys,  Juher  !  —  Ibid.  p.  101. 

Judas  Tree.     See  Red  Bud. 

Judges  of  the  Plains.  A  translation  of  the  Spanish  Jueces  del  Campo, 
In  California  there  are,  by  law,  appointed  certain  persons  in  every  county, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  attend  all  the  rodeos,  or  gatherings  of  cattle,  whether 
for  the  purpose  of  marking  or  branding,  or  for  separating  the  cattle,  when 
called  upon  by  any  ranchero,  farmer,  or  owner  of  stock.  These  are  called 
Judges  of  the  Plains,  and  have  the  power  to  decide  all  disputes  connected 
with  the  ownership  of  horses,  mules,  or  horned  cattle.  —  Laws  of  Cali- 
fornia.    See  Rodeo. 

Judiciary.  The  judiciary  power,  or  the  power  that  admmisters  justice ; 
judicature.  —  Judge  Story.  This  word  is  often  used  as  a  substantive  in 
the  United  States  ;  but  is  not  often  so  used  in  England. —  Worcester. 

Judy.  "  To  make  ajudy  of  one's  self"  is  what,  with  more  vigor  than  po- 
liteness, is  termed  making  an  ass  of  one's  self. 

The  Boston  Chronotype,  in  speaking  of  the  bad  management  and  con- 
fusion at  the  Water  celebration,  says : 

It  is  thought  that  a  set  of  men  never  did  make  greater  Judies  of  themselves. 

JuGFULL.  "  Not  by  a  jugfidl,"  is  a  phrase  commonly  used  to  mean,  not  by 
2k  great  deal,  by  no  means. 


JUL— JUN  223 

Downingville  is  as  sweet  as  a  rose.  But  'taint  so  in  New  York,  not  by  a  jugfxdl. 
—  Major  Downing,  May-day  in  New  York, 

He  wished  to  state  of  the  pro-slavery  men  of  Kansas,  so  that  their  friends  in  Mis- 
souri might  see  into  their  plans  and  policy,  they  had  not  abandoned  the  idea  of 
making  Kansas  a  slave  State,  by  &  jug  full.  — P.  T.  Abie's  Speech,  July,  1857. 

Julep.  A  drink,  composed  of  brandy  or  whiskey  with  sugar,  pounded  ice, 
and  some  sprigs  of  mint. 

Hoffman  brings  the  gods  together  on  Mount  Olympus,  after  their  last 
butt  of  nectar  had  run  out,  to  taste  mint  juleps : 

The  draught  was  delicious,  each  god  did  exclaim. 

Though  something  yet  wanting  they  all  did  bewail ; 
But  juleps  the  drink  of  immortals  became. 
When  Jove  himself  added  a  handful  of  hail. 

Jump.  "  From  the  jump  "  is  a  phrase  meaning,  from  the  start,  from  the 
beginning. 

Here  is  a  whole  string  of  Democrats,  all  of  whom  had  been  going  the  whole  hog 
for  Cass  from  the  jump,  -svithout  regard  to  our  adherence  or  opposition  to  Taylor.  — 
N.  Y.  Tribune,  Nov.  11,  1848. 

To  Jump  a  Claim,  in  "Western  parlance,  is  to  endeavor  to  obtain  posses- 
sion of  the  land  or  "  claim  "  which  has  been  taken  up  and  occupied  by  a 
settler,  or  "  squatter,"  in  a  new  country.  The  first  occupant  is,  by  squat- 
ter law  and  custom,  entitled  to  the  first  claim  on  the  land.  Sometimes 
dishonest  men  attempt  to  deprive  the  squatter  of  his  rights,  which  often 
leads  to  bloodshed. 

If  a  man  jumped  my  claim,  and  encroached  on  my  boundaries,  and  I  did  n't  knock 
him  on  the  head  with  a  pickaxe,  I  appealed  to  the  crowd,  and,  my  claim  being  care- 
fully measured  and  found  correct,  the  jumper  would  be  ordered  to  confine  himself  to 
his  own  territory. — F.  Marryat,  Mountains  and  Molehills,  p.  217. 

At  Florence,  Nebraska  Territory,  on  the  26th  of  May,  seven  men  were  arrested 
by  a  mob,  for  what  is  called  claim  jumping  —  that  is,  settling  do^vn  on  sections  of 
land  already  entered  or  claimed  by  other  persons.  They  were  tried  by  a  club  asso- 
ciation, and  condemned  to  death  by  hanging ;  but  the  urgent  entreaties  of  their  fam- 
ilies averted  the  execution  of  the  infamous  sentence.  —  Boston  Traveller, 

Jumper.     1.  One  who  takes  a  squatter's  claim. 

2.  A  couple  of  hickory  poles  so  bent  that  the  runners  and  shafts  are  of 
the  same  piece,  with  a  crate  placed  on  four  props,  complete  this  prim- 
itive species  of  sledge ;  and  when  the  crate  is  filled  with  hay,  and  the 
driver  well  wrapped  in  a  buffalo  rob?,  the  "turn  out"  is  about  as  com- 
fortable a  one  as  a  man  could  wish. — Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West,  p. 
200. 

Junk-Bottle.     The  ordinary  black  glass  porter  bottle. 


224  KAM  — KEC 


K. 

Kamas  Root.  {Camassia  esculenta).  Breadroot.  The  Pomme  des 
Prairies  or  Pomme  Blanche  of  the  Canadians,  and  Prairie  Turnip  of  the 
hunters  and  trappers  of  the  West.  It  is  very  extensively  used  as  food 
by  the  Digger  Indians. 

Kanacka.  a  native  of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Kanaka  is  the  Sandwich 
Island  word  for  "  man."     California. 

Kanticot.     See  Canticoy.  * 

Karimption.     a  squad.     "Western. 

A  whole  karimption  of  Dutch  emigrants  were  landed  here  yesterday.  —  Cairo,  lUi' 
nois,  Times. 

Katowse.  (Germ.  Getose.)  A  din,  tumult,  rumpus ;  as,  "  What  a  hatowse 
you  are  making ! "     New  England. 

Katydid.  {PlatyphyUum  concavum.^  The  popular  name  of  a  species  of 
grasshopper ;  so  called  from  its  peculiar  note.  Two  of  them  will  chirp 
alternately  from  different  trees,  one  saying,  Katy  did!  and  the  other  re- 
plying with  equal  positiveness,  Katy  did  n't !  At  least,  so  their  conversa- 
tion is  interpreted  by  the  children. 

I  sit  among  the  leaves  here, 

When  evening  zephyrs  sigh, 
And  those  that  listen  to  my  voice 

I  love  to  mystify. 
I  never  tell  them  all  I  know, 

Altho'  I  'm  often  hid, 
I  laugh  at  curiosity, 

And  chirrup  KxUy  did.  —  Ethiopian  Songs. 

I  love  to  hear  thine  earnest  voice. 

Wherever  thou  art  hid, 
Thou  testy  little  dogmatist. 

Thou  pretty  Katydid.  —  0.  W.  Holmes'  Poems. 
Nature  was  fast  asleep,  and  not  a  sound  interrupted  the  solemn  stillness,  save  the 
pitiful  plaint  of  a  lovelorn  Katydid,  or  an  occasional  yawl  from  some  sacrilegious 
cat.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  III. 

Kat,  Cay,  Key.  (Span,  cayo.)  A  small  island  or  rock  in  the  sea.  The 
term  is  generally  applied  to  those  on  the  Florida  coast. 

Kechug  !  or  Kerchug  !  Whop  !  The  noise  made  by  popping  into  the 
water.  See  the  observations  on  interjections  of  this  sort  under  Cachunh. 
A  modem  poet,  in  speaking  of  the  plunge  of  a  frog,  thus  makes  use  of 
the  word : 


KED  — KEE  225 

You  see  him  sitting  on  a  log 

Above  the  vasty  deep ; 
You  feel  inclined  to  say,  "  Old  Chap, 

Just  look  before  you  leap  !  " 
You  raise  your  cane  to  hit  him  on 

His  ugly  looking  mug, 
But  ere  you  get  it  half  way  up, 

Adown  ho  goes  — kerchug! 

Kedge.  Brisk ;  in  good  health  and  spirits.  Ex.  "  How  do  you  do  to- 
day ? "  "I  am  pretty  hedge."  It  is  used  only  in  a  few  of  the  country 
towns  of  New  England.  —  Pickering.     Provincial  in  England. 

Keel-Boat.  A  description  of  vessel  formerly  used  on  the  Mississippi 
and  its  tributaries.  It  is  thus  described  by  Flint :  "  The  heel-boat  is 
of  a  long,  slender,  and  elegant  form,  and  generally  carries  from  fifteen  to 
thirty  tons.  Its  advantage  is  in  its  small  draft  of  water,  and  the  light- 
ness of  its  construction.  It  is  still  used  [1832]  on  the  Ohio  and  Upper 
.  IMississippi  in  low  stages  of  water,  and  on  all  the  boatable  streams  where 
steamboats  do  not  yet  run.  Its  propelling  power  is  by  oars,  saUs,  setting 
poles,  the  cordelle,  and,  when  the  waters  are  high  and  the  boat  runs  on 
the  margin  of  the  bushes,  '  bush- whacking,'  or  puUing  up  by  the  bushes." 
—  History  and  Geography  of  Mississippi  Valley. 

To  Keel  over.  A  nautical  phrase,  meaning  to  capsize  or  upset,  and 
metaphorically  applied  to  a  sudden  prostration. 

As  it  seems  pretty  evident  that  the  sovereigns  of  Europe,  instead  of  occupying 
or  sharing  thrones,  are  predestined  to  the  walks  of  private  life,  it  would  be  highly 
proper  to  cultivate  in  them  a  spirit  of  self-abnegation  and  humility.  If  the  royal 
parents  wish  to  sec  their  offspring  "  let  down  easy  "  from  their  high  estate,  they  will 
adopt  this  course.  Keel  over  they  must,  and  a  gradual  careen  would  be  much  better 
than  a  sudden  capsize.  Now  that  the  people  are  assuming  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  sovereignty,  we  trust  that  they  will  have  some  consideration  for  princes  in  dis- 
tress. —  N.  Y.  Sunday  Despatch. 

To  Keel  up.  To  turn  bottom  up.  A  seaman's  phrase,  like  the  preced- 
ing. 

When  we  get  heded  up,  that  will  be  the  last  of  us.  —  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I. 
p.  116. 

Keener.  A  very  shrewd  person,  one  sharp  at  a  bargain,  what  in  England 
would  be  called  "  a  keen  hand."     Western. 

Keep.  Food,  subsistence,  keeping.  In  a  letter  to  his  brother,  Bishop 
Heber,  speaking  of  Bishops'  CoUege  costing  so  much,  says  : 

Besides,  it  has  turned  out  so  expensive  in  the  monthly  bills  and  necessary  keep  of 
its  inmates,  that  my  resources,  etc.  —  Vol.  II.  p.  319. 


226  KEE— KEL 

The  cottager  either  purchased  hay  for  the  keep  [of  the  cow],  or  paid  for  her  run  in 
the  straw-yard.  —  Edinburgh  Review,  Vol.  LXI.  p.  245. 

"  They  tell  me  you  puritaus  preach  by  instinct." 

"  I  don't  know  how  that  is,"  answered  Grcrshom.  "  I  heer'n  tell,  across  at  Bois 
Bruly,  of  sich  doin's,  and  would  give  you  a  week's  keep  at  "Whiskey  Centre  to  know 
how  't  was  done."  —  Cooper.     The  Oak  Openings. 

To  Keep.  The  phrase  to  keep  shop  is  often  shortened  into  to  Tceep ;  as, 
"  where  do  you  keep  now  ?  "  i.  e.,  where  is  your  place  of  business  ?  To 
keep  also  has  the  sense  of  to  live,  to  dwell,  which  use  of  the  word  is  pro- 
vincial in  the  eastern  counties  of  England. 

Keep  the  Pot  a  boiling,  i.  e.  Don't  let  the  game  flag.  A  common  ex- 
pression among  young  people,  when  they  are  anxious  to  carry  on  their 
gambols  with  spirit.  —  Brochetfs  North  Country  Words. 

To  Keep  a  Stiff  Upper  Lip  is  to  continue  firm,  keep  up  one's  courage. 

"  My  friend,"  said  he,  "  don't  cry  for  spilt  milk ;  keep  a  stiff  upper  lip ;  all  will 
come  out  right  enough  yet."  —  Knickerbocker  Magazine,  Vol.  XXV. 

Tut,  tut.  Major ;  keep  a  stiff  upper  lif,  and  you  '11  bring  him  this  time.  —  Chron. 
of  Pineville,  p.  150. 

To  Keep  Company.  To  court.  A  common  term  applied  to  a  man 
whose  visits  to  a  lady  are  frequent,  with  the  intention  of  gaining  her 
hand.  "  He  keeps  company  with  her,"  i.  e.  he  is  courting  her ;  or  "  They 
are  keeping  company"  i.  e.  are  courting. 

A  young  tailoress  got  a  verdict  against  Mr.  B ,  a  steady  farmer,  who  "kept 

company  "  with  her  some  months,  and  appointed  a  day  for  the  wedding.  [But  sub- 
sequently changed  his  mind.]  — Neio  York  Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  I  had  no  idee  that  Sally  Smith  was  goin'  to  be  mairied  to  Sam  Pendergrass," 
said  the  Widow  Bedott.  "  She  'd  been  keepin'  company  with  Mose  Hewlett  for  bet- 
ter 'n  a  year,  and  everybody  said  that  was  a  settled  thing."  —  Bedott  Papers,  p.  22. 

Keeping-room.  A  common  sitting-room;  the  parlor,  in  New  England. 
The  term  is  chiefly  used  in  the  interior,  although  it  may  sometimes  be 
heard  in  the  seaport  towns.  The  same  expression  is  used  in  Norfolk, 
England,  for  "  the  general  sitting-room  of  the  family,  or  common  parlor." 
—  Forhy's  Norf.  Glossary. 

Mr.  Goodrich,  in  speaking  of  the  period  of  his  boyhood  in  Connecticut, 
says: 

Carpets  were  then  only  known  in  a  few  families,  and  were  confined  to  the  keeping- 
room  and  parlor.  —  Reminiscences,  Vol.  I.  p.  74. 

Within  there  was  but  the  kitchen,  the  keeping-room,  and  a  pantry,  together  with  the 
sleeping  apartment.  — Eastford. 

Keet.     See  Guinea  Keet. 

Kelumpus  !    Thump  !    The  noise  produced  by  a  fall  on  a  hard  body. 


KEN— KIB  227 

Only  think ;  a  fellow  to  come  here  drunk  at  night,  and  to  fall  kalumpus  on  the 
fence  by  the  apple-tree ! — Adv.  of  Priest,  p.  93. 

Kentucky  Coffee.  The  fruit  of  the  Gynonoclades  canadensis.  A  large 
tree,  resembling  the  locust  tree,  bearing  a  pod  with  berries  which  are  used 
for  coffee. 

Kentucky  Flat.    See  Flat-boat, 

Keshaw!    See  Cashaiof 

Keslosh  !  Keswosh  !  Kewosh  !  Plash  !  splash  I  The  noise  produced 
by  a  body  falling  flat  iuto  the  water. 

Cousin  Peter  sat  down  between  them  [the  king  and  queen  in  a  play] ;  but  they  riz 
np  jest  as  he  went  to  sit  down,  and  the  first  thing  he  knowed,  kerdosh  he  went  into 
a  tub  of  water.  —  Major  Jones's  Courtship. 

The  kiver-hinge  pin  bein'  lost,  tea  leaves  and  tea  and  kiver 

Would  all  come  down  kerswosh  !  as  though  the  dam  broke  in  a  river. 

Poetical  Epistle  from  a  Volunteer. 

I  have  seen  manhood  fall  from  the  topmost  cliff  of  ambition  kerswosh  into  the 
depths  of  nonentity,  and  lie  forever  buried  in  the  turbid  waves  of  oblivion. — Dow's 
Sermons. 

He  shoved  away  the  boat,  and  the  first  thing  I  know'd  down  I  went  kerwash  into 
the  drink.  — Southern  Sketches,  p.  36. 

Kesouse  !  Souse !  The  noise  made  by  a  body  falling  from  a  small  height 
into  the  water. 

The  dugout  had  n't  leaped  more  'n  six  lengths  from  the  bank,  afore  —  zip  —  chug 
— ke-souse  I  went ;  the  eend  lifted  agin  a  sawyer,  and  emptied  me  into  the  element. 
—  The  Americans  at  Home,  Vol.  I. 

To  Kesouse.     To  souse  into  the  water. 

I  kasoused  the  old  cock  into  a  bucket  of  boilin*  water,  and  —  do  you  believe  1 
Why  it  took  two  of  my  young  ones  and  a  big  pair  of  pincers  a  whole  day  to  get  the 
critter's  feathers  out.  —  New  York  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Keswollop  !     Flop  !     The  noise  made  by  a  violent  fall  to  the  ground. 

The  horses  kept  pretty  even  till  they  reached  the  third  fence,  a  regular  snag ;  and 
then  kerswoUop  went  one  rider  clear  over  the  horse's  head.  —  New  York  Spirit  of  the 
Times. 

Key.     See  Kay. 

Keystone  State.  The  State  of  Pennsylvania.  So  called  from  its  being 
the  central  State  of  the  Union  at  the.  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Con- 
stitution. 

KiBLiNGS.  Parts  of  small  fish  used  by  fishermen  for  bait  on  the  banks  of 
Newfoundland. 


228  KIC  — KIN 

To  Kick.  To  jilt.  Ex.  "  Miss  A  has  Jciched  the  Hon.  Mr.  B,  and  sent 
him  off  with  a  flea  in  his  eai*."     Confined  to  the  South. 

Kick.  To  kick  up  a  row  is  to  create  a  disturbance ;  the  same  as  to  hick 
up  a  dust. 

Mr.  Polk  admitted  Santa  Anna,  because  he  knew  him  to  he  capable  of  fighting 
nothing  but  chickens,  and  to  kick  up  a  row  in  Mexico,  and  disconcert  government 
measures.  — Mr.  Bedinger,  Speech  in  House  of  Representatives. 

Kid.  a  large  box  in  fishing  vessels,  into  which  fish  are  thrown  as  they  are 
caught.     New  England. 

To  Kill.  To  defeat,  to  neutralize.  A  political  term.  "  Do  you  vote  the 
Whig  ticket  ?  I  '11  go  the  Democrat  and  kill  your  vote."  "  Ike  Sap  got 
a  divorce  from  his  old  woman  in  the  House,  but  it  was  killed  in  the  Sen- 
ate." 

To  Kill.  To  do  a  thing  to  kill  is  a  common  vulgarism,  and  means  to  do 
it  to  the  uttermost,  to  carry  it  to  the  fullest  extent ;  as,  "  He  drives  to 
kill ;  "  "  She  dances  to  kill" 

Kill.  (Dutch  ^7.)  A  channel,  or  arm  of  the  sea ;  a  stream,  river. 
This  Dutch  appellation  is  still  preserved  in  several  instances ;  thus  the 
channel  that  separates  Staten  Island  from  Bergen  Neck  is  called  Kill 
van  Kull,  or  simply  the  Kills  ;  to  which  we  may  add  the  names  Schuyl- 
kill and  Catskill,  applied  to  streams. 

KiLLDEER.  (^Charadrius  vociferus.)  A  small  bird  of  the  plover  kind ;  so 
called  from  its  peculiar  note. 

KiLLHAG.     (Indian.)     A  wooden  trap,  used  by  the  hunters  in  Maine. 

Killing-time.     The  season  when  hogs  are  slaughtered. 

KiLLOCK.    A  small  anchor. 

They  took  their  berths,  unshipped  their  oars,  threw  over  their  hillicks  and  prepared 
for  fishing.  — Peter  Gott,  the  Fisherman. 

So  I  advise  the  num'rous  friends  that 's  in  one  boat  mth  me 
To  jest  up  hillock,  jam  right  down  their  helm  hard  a  lea. 

The  Biglow  Papers. 

KiLLY-FisH,  or  KiLLT.  (Gcnus  Fundulus.)  A  small  fish  found  in  the 
salt  water  creeks  and  bays,  from  one  to  five  inches  in  length.  It  is  only 
used  for  bait  for  larger  fi^h.  They  are  so  called  from  the  "  Kills  "  in 
which  they  abound. 

KiNDLERS,  or  Kindlings.  Small  pieces  of  wood  for  kindling  a  fire; 
kindling-wood.     New  England. 

Put  some  kindlers  imdcr  the  pot,  and  then  you  may  go.  —  Margaret,  p.  6. 


KIN  — KIN  229 

Mr.  Goodrich,  in  describing  the  wood  fires  of  olden  time  in  New  Eng- 
land, says : 

There  was  a  back -log,  top-log,  middle  stick,  and  then  a  heap  oi  kindlings,  reaching 
from  the  bowels  down  to  the  bottom. 

Kind  o'.  Kinder.  In  a  manner,  as  it  were  ;  as,  "  She  made  game  on  it 
kind  o\"  —  Forby. 

A  kinder  notion  jist  then  began  to  get  into  my  head.  —  Major  Downing. 
At  that  the  landlord  and  oflBcer  looked  kinder  thunderstruck.  —  Downing. 
It  kinder  seemed  to  me  that  something  could  be  done,  and  they  let  me  take  the 
colt.  — Margaret,  p.  325. 

In  the  store  that  stands  above  us. 
As  I  sat  beneath  the  counter, 
Kind-a  doing  nothing,  only 
Nibbling  at  a  box  of  raisins. 

Ward,  Song  of  Higher  Water. 
Kinder  sorter.     Somehow,  rather. 

I  have  set  my  heart  on  a  gall,  though  whether  she  will  give  me  hem,  I  ain't  sar- 
tin ;  but  I  rather  kinder  sorter  guess  so,  than  kinder  sorter  not  so.  —  Sam  Slick,  Hu- 
man Nature,  p.  90. 

King-Bird.  {Muscicapa  tyrannus.)  A  bold  and  sprightly  bird  which  ap- 
pears in  Louisiana  about  the  middle  of  March,  and  continues  until  the 
middle  of  September.  Further  northward,  over  the  entire  country,  it 
comes  later  and  disappears  earlier.  —  R.  Kennicott. 

King-Crab.     See  Horse-Foot. 

King-Fish.  ( Umhrina  alburnus.)  A  sea-fish  of  delicious  flavor,  called 
King-fish  about  New  York,  and  Hake  on  the  Jersey  coast. 

Kink.  An  accidental  knot  or  sudden  twist  in  a  rope,  thread,  etc. ;  and, 
figuratively,  a  fanciful  notion,  a  crotchet. 

"  It  is  useless  to  persuade  him  to  go,  for  he  has  taken  a  kink  in  his  head  that  he 
will  not."  —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase. 

I  went  down  to  Macon  to  the  examination,  whar  I  got  a  heap  of  new  kinks.  — 
Major  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  20. 

Never  a  Yankee  was  bom  or  bred 
Without  that  peculiar  kink  in  his  head 
By  which  he  could  turn  the  smallest  amount 
Of  whatever  he  had  to  the  best  account. 

Cozzin,  Cali/omia  Ballad. 

Kinky.     Queer,  eccentric,  crotchety. 

KiNNiKiNNiCK.  An  Indian  word  for  a  preparation  of  tobacco,  sumac  leaves,. 
and  willow  twigs,  two  tliirds  tobacco  and  one  of  the  latter  gathered  when 
the  leaves  commence  turning  red.  This  mixture  is  used  by  the  Indians 
and  the  old  settlers  and  hunters  in  the  West. 

20 


280  KIS  — KIT 

At  this  moment  the  Indians  were  in  deliberation.  Seated  in  a  large  circle  round 
a  very  small  fire,  the  smoke  from  whieh  ascended  in  a  thin  straight  column,  they 
each  in  turn  pufi'ed  a  huge  cloud  of  smoke  from  three  or  four  long  cherry-stemmed 
pipes,  which  went  the  round  of  the  party ;  each  warrior  touching  the  ground  with 
the  heel  of  the  pipe  bowl,  and  turning  the  stem  upwards  and  away  from  him  as 
"medicine"  to  the  Great  Spirit,  before  he  himself  inhaled  the  fragrant  kinnik-hinnik. 
—N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

I  at  this  moment  presented  to  the  Duke  the  Indian  pipe,  through  which  he  had 
smoked  the  day  before,  and  also  an  Indian  tobacco-pouch,  filled  with  the  k'nick- 
k'neck  (or  Indian  tobacco)  with  which  he  had  been  so  much  pleased.  —  Catlin's 
Travels  in  Europe. 

There  are  also  certain  creeks  where  the  Indians  resort  to  lay  in  a  store  of  kinni- 
kinik,  the  inner  bark  of  the  red  willow,  which  they  use  as  a  substitute  for  tobacco,  and 
which  has  an  aromatic  and  very  pungent  flavor. — Ruxton,  Life  in  the  Far  West, 
p.  116. 

While  I  am  writing,  I  am  smoking  a  pipe  filled  with  kinnikinick,  the  dried  leaves 
of  the  red  sumac  —  a  very  good  substitute  for  tobacco.  —  Carvalho,  Adventures  in 
the  Far  West,  p.  36. 

KiSKiTOMAS  Nut.  A  name  of  the  hickory  nut,  doubtless  of  Indian  origin. 
The  following  sonnet  to  it  is  taken  from  the  Literary  World  of  Nov.  2, 
1850: 

Hickory,  shell-bark,  kiskitomas  nui .' 

Or  whatsoever  thou  art  called,  thy  praise 

Has  ne'er  been  sounded  yet  in  poet's  lays  : 
October's  frosts  now  burst  the  husk  where  shut 
In  snug  recluse  thou  'st  passed  the  summer ;  but 

Ushered  at  length  into  the  worid's  broad  blaze, 

Lo  !  throngs  of  merry  children  rush  to  raise 
Thy  form,  and  give  thee  welcome  :  every  hut 

And  statelier  dweUing  hails  thy  glad  approach  ; 

Looking,  when  winter's  snows  and  sleets  encroach. 
To  gather  social  cu'cles  round  the  hearth ; 

"Who,  while  the  generous  cider-cask  they  broach. 
And  munching  apples  laud  their  various  worth. 
Call  in  tliine  aid  to  cro^vn  with  crackling  noise  the  mirth. 

Kiss-ME-QuiCK.  A  home-made,  quilted  bonnet  which  does  not  extend  be- 
yond the  face.  They  are  chiefly  used  to  cover  the  head  by  ladies  when 
going  to  parties  or  to  the  theatre. 

She  holds  out  with  each  hand  a  portion  of  her  silk  dress,  as  if  she  was  walking  a 
minuet,  and  it  discloses  a  snow  white  petticoat.  Her  step  is  short  and  mincing,  and 
she  wears  a  new  bonnet  called  a  kiss-me-quick.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  131. 

Kitchen  Cabinet.  A  nickname  applied  to  certain  advisers  of  President 
Jackson. 

In  the  management  of  the  Washington  Globe,  the  organ  of  the  President,  it  be- 
came nccessaiy  for  him  to  consult  often  with  Blair  and  Kendall,  which  was  a  reason, 
among  others,  for  the  Whig  party  to  ridicule  and  condemn  "  Jackson's  kitchen  cabi- 
net." —  Life  and  Times  of  Governor  Reynolds,  p.  453, 


KIT  — KNO  231 

Kite-Flier.     A  financier  who  practises  the  operation  of  "  hite-Jlying" 

Kite-Flte^g.  An  expression  well-known  to  mercantile  men  of  limited 
means,  or  who  are  short  of  cash.  It  is  a  combination  between  two  per- 
sons, neither  of  whom  has  any  funds  in  bank,  to  exchange  each  other's 
checks,  which  may  be  deposited  in  lieu  of  money,  taking  good  care  to 
make  their  bank  accounts  good  before  their  checks  are  presented  for  pay- 
ment. Kite-jlying  is  also  practised  by  mercantile  houses  or  persons  in 
difierent  cities.  A  house  in  Boston  draws  on  a  house  in  New  York  at 
sixty  days  or  more,  and  gets  its  biU  discounted.  The  New  York  house, 
in  return,  meets  its  acceptance  by  re-drawing  on  the  Boston  house.  Im- 
mense sums  of  money  are  often  raised  in  this  manner  —  in  fact,  furnish- 
ing a  capital  for  both  houses  to  transact  their  business  with. 

Flying  the  kite  is  rather  a  perilous  adventure,  and  subjects  a  man  to  a  risk  of  de- 
tection. One  who  values  his  credit  as  a  sound  and  fair  dealer  would  by  no  means 
hazard  it.  — Perils  of  Pearl  Street,  p.  82. 

It  appears  that  Yankeeland  cannot  claim  the  honor  of  inventing  either 
the  practice  or  the  phrase ;  for  at  a  legal  dinner  in  Ireland,  Lord  Norbury 
said  to  Chancellor  Milford : 

In  England  jou  have  to  raise  a  wind  to  fly  a  kite,  but  in  L'eland  here  we  fly 
kites  to  raise  the  wind. 


Jnh~ttra.eL. 


Knee  high  to  a  Mosquito.  A  common  hyperbolical  expression  to  de- 
note diminutive  stature  j  as,  "  I  knew  him  before  he  was  knee  high  to  a 
mosquito" 

Knicker  or  Nicker.  (Dutch,  knikker.)  A  boy's  clay  marble ;  a  com- 
mon term  in  New  York.  It  is  also  used  in  England,  being  defined  by 
Halhwell :  "  A  little  ball  of  clay  or  earth  baked  hard  and  oiled  over,  for 
boys  to  play  at  nickers." 

Knickerbocker.  A  descendant  of  one  of  the  old  Dutch  families  of  New 
York  City. 

Knick-knackery  or  Nicknackert.    A  knick-knack. 

There  is  one  branch  of  trade  which  has  not  suffered  in  common  with  other  things, 
and  that  is  the  sale  of  costly  knicknackeries,  especially  women's  superlative  gear.  — 
New  York  Tribune. 

ICnob.  In  Kentucky,  round  hiUs  or  knolls  are  called  Tcnohs.  These  hills 
are  formed  by  the  weathering  of  the  soft  sandstones  and  shales  compos- 
ing them.  The  approach  to  this  "  knoh  formation  "  from  the  rich  land  is 
very  characteristic,  and  the  sudden  change  in  soil  is  accompanied  by  a 
corresponding  change  in  the  inhabitants.  The  word,  however,  has  ex- 
tended its  meaning,  and  in  Kentucky,  as  well  as  other  parts  of  the  West, 
is  used  simply  for  hiU.     In  Maryland  and  Virginia  the  term  knoh  is  ap- 


282  KNO  — KNO 

plied  to  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  other  irregular  moim- 
tains. 

Approaching  Galena,  the  country  becomes  still  more  broken  and  rocky,  until  at 
last  a  few  short  hills,  here  called  knobs,  indicate  our  approach  to  Fever  River.  — 
Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West,  p.  303. 

Knobby.  Hilly.  The  prairie  of  south-western  Missouri  is  characterized 
by  what  are  called  Icnobs  or  mounds ;  they  are  somewhat  variable  in  size 
and  form,  but  usually  present  the  appearance  of  a  truncated  cone. — 
Swallow's  Geology  of  Missouri,  p.  204. 

Knobite.     a  dweller  in  the  "  knob  "  formation  of  Kentucky. 

KJvOB-LiCK.  The  base  of  the  "  knobs  "  contains  shales,  which  furnish 
alum  and  other  salts,  forming  "  licks,"  to  which  wild  and  domestic  ani- 
mals resort.  One  of  these  knoh  licks  in  Mercer  county,  Kentucky,  is  a 
very  remarkable  spot,  and  was  in  former  times  a  favorite  resort  of  the 
buffaloes.  Many  acres  are  entirely  devoid  of  vegetation,  and  clay  banks 
in  every  possible  shape  occupy  the  surface. 

Knock-down  and  Drag-out.    A  fight  carried  to  extremities. 

There  are  good,  quiet,  easy  people  in  the  world,  who  scarcely  open  their  lips  or 
raise  their  fingers,  lest  Dogberry  So-and-so  across  the  way  might  take  it  in  high  dud- 
geon, and  forthwith  demand  an  explanation  or  a  knock-down  and  drag-out.  —  New 
York  Spirit  of  the  Times,  Sept.  30,  1848. 

Mike  professed  to  be  considerable  of  a  fighter,  and,  in  a  regular  knock-down  and 
drag-out  row,  was  hard  to  beat.  — Southern  Sketches,  p.  30. 

Knock-Kneed.  One  whose  knees  are  so  close  that  they  "  interfere  "  in 
walking.  It  is  doubtless  an  English  expression,  though  not  in  the  dic- 
tionaries. 

Eisingh,  who  succeeded  to  the  command  of  New  Sweden,  looms  largely  in  ancient 
records  as  a  gigantic  Swede,  who,  had  he  not  been  knock-kneed  and  splay-footed, 
might  have  served  for  the  model  of  a  Samson.  — Knickerbocker,  New  York. 

Knocked  into  a  Cocked  Hat.  Knocked  out  of  shape ;  spoiled;  ruined. 
The  allusion  or  metaphor  seems  to  be  that  of  the  hat  of  some  unlucky 
wight,  which,  by  a  violent  blow,  has  been  knocked  into  a  sort  of  flattened, 
three-cornered  shape,  resembling  an  old-fashioned  cocked  hat. 

A  tall,  slatternly  looking  woman,  wearing  a  dingy  old  silk  bonnet,  which  was 
knocked  into  a  cocked  hat,  appeared  yesterday  before  the  Recorder.  —  New  Orleans 
Picayune. 

One  of  the  omnibuses  here  run  full  tilt  against  a  cart,  and  knocked  every  thing 
into  a  kind  of  cocked  hat.  —  Major  Downing,  May-day  in  New  York. 

At  a  Repeal  meeting  in  New  York,  Mr.  Locke  was  proceeding  to  speak  of  the  in- 
fluence this  party  would  have,  when  he  was  inteiTupted  by  a  gang  of  rowdies,  who, 
with  tlie  design  of  disturbing  the  meeting,  cried  out,  "  Three  cheers  for  O'Connell 
—  three  cheers  for  Repeal  —  and  tliree  groans  for  Slavery !  "     The  six  cheers  for 


KNO  — KNO  233 

O'Connell  and  Repeal  were  given;  but  by  the  time  they  came  to  the  groans  for 
Slavery,  they  found  themselves  all  knocked  into  a  cocked  hat.  —  New  York  Paper. 

Between  three  and  four  tliousand  persons  were  assembled  at  the  Broadway  Taber- 
nacle the  other  evening  to  liear  a  temperance  lecture  from  the  talented  Mr.  Gough. 
There  were  "  long-robed  doctors  "  enough  to  have  constituted  a  standing  army. 

The  Rev.  Dr. ,  who  opened  the  meeting  with  prayer,  got  through  in  the  very 

short  space  of  tlu-ee  quarters  of  an  hour ;  but  it  was  full  long  enough  to  knock  the 
spirit  of  the  meeting  into  a  "  cocked  hat."  —  New  York  Tribune. 

To  Knock  about.  To  go  or  saunter  about.  An  English  phrase,  though 
not  in  the  dictionaries. 

A  long  course  of  solicitation,  haunting  public  offices,  and  knocking  about  town, 
had  taught  him  [General  Gates],  it  was  said,  how  to  wheedle,  and  flatter,  and  ac- 
commodate himself  to  the  humors  of  others.  —  Irving,  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  I. 
p.  423. 

To  Kkock  down.  To  assign  to  a  bidder  at  an  auction  by  a  blow  on  the 
counter;  as,  "The  tall  copy  of  Shakspeare  was  knocked  down  to  IVIr. 
Jones." 

To  Knock  off.     To  dock  off;  deduct.     Vulgar. 

To  Knock  round.  To  go  about  carelessly,  to  wander  or  saunter  about, 
i.  e.  "  to  knock  about." 

I  'm  going  to  New  York  and  Boston,  and  all  about  thar,  and  spend  the  summer 
until  pickiu'  time,  knockin'  round  in  them  big  cities,  'mong  them  people  what 's  so 
monstrous  smai-t,  and  religious,  and  refined,  and  see  if  I  can't  pick  up  some  ideas 
worth  rememberin'.  —  Major  Jones's  Sketches. 

The  Indian  will  lose  his  hair,  if  he  and  his  band  knock  round  here  too  often.  — 
jRuxton,  Life  in  the  Far  West. 

Know-Nothings.  a  new  and  more  proscriptive  party  of  "  Native  Ame- 
ricans," which  originated  in  the  year  1853.  The  New  York  Times  gives 
the  following  account  of  the  origin  of  the  name :  "  The  Know-Nothing 
party,  it  is  pretty  generally  known,  was  first  formed  by  a  person  of  some 
notoriety  in  New  York,  who  called  himself  '  Ned  Butline.'  '  Ned ' 
was  once  a  midshipman  in  the  United  States  Navy,  but  left  the  service 
and  commenced  the  business  of  Americanism  on  a  large  scale,  by  found- 
ing a  secret  political  order,  of  so  exclusive  a  character  that  none  were  to 
be  admitted  as  members  Avliose  grandfathers  were  not  natives  of  the  coun- 
try. It  is  a  difficult  matter,  in  a  country  hke  the  United  States,  where 
free  inquiry  is  so  common,  to  keep  any  thing  secret ;  and  Ned  instructed 
his  proselytes  and  acolytes  to  reply  to  all  questions  in  respect  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  new  party,  '  I  don't  know.'  So,  they  were  at  first  called 
*  Don't-knows,'  and  then  '  Know-Nothings^  by  outsiders,  who  knew 
nothing  more  of  them  than  that  they  invariably  replied,  '  I  don't  know,' 
to  all  questions."     The  following  articles  of  their  "  platform  "  or  set  of 

20* 


234  KNO  — LAF 

principles,  according  to  the  "American  Crusader,"   one  of  the  leading 
newspapers  of  the  party,  contain  the  gist  of  the  whole : 

1.  Repeal  of  all  naturalization  laws. 

2.  None  but  native  Americans  for  office. 

3.  A  pure  American  common  school  system. 

4.  War  to  the  hilt  on  Romanism. 

These  were  the  principles  of  the  ultra  men  of  the  party.  In  Louisiana 
and  other  parts  they  were  disposed  to  be  more  liberal  towards  the  Roman 
Catholics,  admitting  such  as  were  born  in  the  United  States.  There  was 
also  a  difference  of  opinion  regarding  slavery,  and  upon  the  latter  issue 
the  party  became  divided  into  North  and  South  Americans.  See  also 
Sam  and  Hindoos. 

Know-Nothingism.     The  doctrines  of  the  Know-Nothings. 

The  Know-Nothings  have  had  their  day,  and  very  soon  there  will  be  nothing  left 
of  them  but  their  name.  The  earth  hath  bubbles,  and  Know-Nothinfjism  was  one  of 
them.  — New  York  Times. 

KoNCKS,  or  Conks.  Wreckers  are  so  called,  familiarly,  at  Key  "West ; 
and  the  place  they  inhabit  is  called  Koncktown. 

KoOL  Slaa.  a  contraction  for  the  Dutch  Kool-salade,  i.  e.  Cabbage  salad. 
Many  persons  who  affect  accuracy,  but  do  not  know  the  origin  of  the 
term,  pronounce  the  first  syllable  as  if  it  were  the  English  world  cold. 

KooTAH  Root,  or  Kootahs.  A  term  applied  by  the  Indians  in  Oregon 
to  a  root  used  by  them  in  making  a  bread  called  supale.  The  plant  yield- 
ing the  root  is  Valeriana  officinalis  or  V.  Edulis,  probably  the  same  as 
that  sometimes  written  Kous.  It  is  frequently  called  Tobacco  Root.  It 
should  be  baked  in  the  ground  two  days,  to  deprive  it  of  poisonous  pro- 
perties.    The  bread  has  an  offensive  taste  to  those  not  familiarized  to  it. 

Xbiss  Kringle.  (Germ.  Christ  Kindlein.)  The  infant  Christ.  The 
German  for  child  is  hind,  of  which  the  diminutive  is  kindlein  or  hindchen. 
This,  in  some  parts  of  Germany  and  in  Pennsylvania,  has  been  formed 
into  kindel,  and  the  children  are  promised  gifts  at  Christmas  from 
"  Christ  hindel."  The  corruption  of  this  last  into  Kriss  Kringle,  as  a 
name  for  the  babe  of  Bethlehem,  is  neither  English  nor  bad  German,  but 
a  mere  jargon  or  gibberish  of  the  vilest  kind. 


Labrador  Tea.     (^Ledtcm  palustre.)     A  plant  used  far  in  the  North-west 
as  a  substitute  for  tea. 

Lafayette  Fish.     (Leiosiomits  ohliquus.)    A  delicious  sea-fish,  which  ap- 


LAD  — LAM  235 

pears  in  the  summer  in  great  abundance  at  Cape  Island  on  the  Jersey 
coast,  and  is  hence  called  the  Cape  May  Goody.  The  name  Lafayette 
fish,  by  which  it  is  known  in  New  York  and  its  vicinity,  was  given  it  on 
■  account  of  its  appearance  one  summer  coinciding  with  the  last  visit  of 
General  Lafayette  to  America.  —  Professor  S.  F.  Baird. 

Ladies'  Tresses.  (Neottta  tortillis.)  The  popular  name,  in  the  Southern 
States,  for  an  herb  so  called  from  the  spiral  arrangement  of  its  flowers, 
resembling  curls. 

Lager-Beer.  (Germ.  Lager-Bier,  i.  e.  Stock-beer.)  Sometimes  con- 
tracred  into  lager.  A  kind  of  small  beer  introduced  a  few  years  ago  into 
the  American  cities  by  the  Germans,  and  now  much  in  vogue  among  all 
classes.     The  following  story  is  told  of  its  origin : 

Many  years  ago  a  shoemaker,  near  Bamberg,  sent  his  apprentice  to  get  a  bottle  of 
Bamberg  beer,  which  was  sold  at  that  place ;  but  the  boy,  not  knowing  this,  went  to 
the  city  itself.  On  returning,  he  met  an  acquaintance  of  his,  who  told  him  that 
when  he  would  come  home,  his  "  boss  "  would  whip  him  for  staying  so  long.  The 
poor  boy,  who  was  frightened  at  this,  thought  it  better  not  to  go  home  at  all,  but 
took  his  bottle,  buried  it  under  a  tree,  and  ran  away.  He  went  among  the  soldiers, 
where  he  distinguished  himself,  so  that,  in  short,  he  became  an  officer.  When  one 
day  his  regiment  was  quartered  in  this  small  town,  the  officer  thought  proper  to  pay 
a  visit  to  his  old  boss,  but  not  before  he  had  got  the  bottle  of  beer,  which  he  had 
buried  some  years  before  under  the  tree.  When  he  entered,  he  said :  "  Well,  Sir, 
here  I  bring  you  your  bottle  of  Bamberg  beer  that  you  sent  me  for."  The  shoe- 
maker, not  knowing  what  this  meant,  was  told  by  the  officer  all  about  it.  The  bottle 
was  then  opened,  and  the  beer  was  found  to  be  of  superior  quality.  When  this  fact 
was  kno\\Ti,  some  of  the  brewers  built  deep  vaults,  where  they  put  their  beer,  and 
called  it,  after  it  had  lain  there  some  time,  hgei;  which  means  nothing  more  than 
lying  [not  so  ;  it  means  the  beams  in  the  cellar  on  which  the  casks  are  laid].  The 
officer  afterwards  married  the  daughter  of  the  shoemaker,  and  drank  a  good  deal  of 
lager  beer,  receiving  in  that  occupation  the  assistance  of  his  father-in-law.  —  National 
Intelligencer,  February  12,  1857. 

The  Philadelphia  Ledger  says  that  there  are  one  hundred  thousand  barrels,  of 
thirty-two  gallons  each,  of  lager  beer,  manufactured  in  that  city  in  a  year.  That  is  a 
barrel  for  every  male  adult  in  the  city.  —  Baltimore  Sun,  July  12,  1858. 

The  German  drinks  his  lager,  and  drinks  it  apparently  in  indefinite  quantities, 
without  any  of  the  usual  effects  of  intoxication.  — New  York  Express,  Jane,  1858. 

Lake  Latvter.  (Genus,  Amia.  Linnaeus.)  The  "Western  Mud-fish. 
It  is  found  in  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  where  it  is  known  by  the  name  of 
Dog-fish.  Dr.  Kirtland  says,  it  is  also  called  the  lake  laicyer,  from  its 
"  ferocious  looks  and  voracious  habits." 

To  Lam.  (Belg.  lamen.)  To  beat  soundly ;  to  drub.  Colloquial  in  some 
of  the  Northern  States.  It  is  provincial  in  Yorkshire,  England.  —  Wil- 
lari's  Glossary. 

If  Millwood  were  here,  dash  my  wig, 
Quoth  he,  I  would  beat  her  and  lam  her  weel.  —  Rejected  Addresses. 


236  LAM— LAN 

The  gentleman,  who  fondly  imagined  himself  a  bat,  stood  his  gi'ound  like  a  regular 
built  chicken,  and  "  went  in  "  a  number  of  times ;  but  his  adversary,  a  stalwart 
butcher,  was  too  much  used  to  "  lam  "  to  be  vanquished,  and  his  superior  prowess 
Avas  soon  made  manifest  by  the  commercial  gentleman's  face.  —  New  York  Spirit  of 
the  Times. 

Cooney  would  pitch  into  a  private  dispute,  when  he  did  n't  care  a  durn  cent  which 
walloped  the  other,  and  lam  them  both.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  31. 

If  I  had  got  a  hold  of  him,  I'd  a  lammed  him  worse  than  the  devil  beatin'  tan  bark, 
I  know.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  193. 

Lamantin.     See  Manitee. 

To  Lambaste.    To  beat,  thresh,  lam. 

Lambasting.    A  beating. 

Lamb-kill.     See  Calf-kill. 

Lamb's  Quarter.  The  popular  name  of  an  herb  (  Chenopodium  album) 
at  the  South.  —  Williams's  Florida. 

Lame  Duck.  A  stockjobber  who  has  failed,  or  one  unable  to  meet  his 
engagements. 

On  the  southern  comer  of  the  Exchange  stand  half  a  score  of  excited  faces.  These 
are  the  famous  Third  Board  of  Brokers  —  mostly /a/ne  ducks,  who  have  been  disabled 
for  life  in  their  passage  through  the  more  secret  operations  of  the  regular  Board  up 
stairs,  and  greenhorns  who  arc  very  anxious  to  come  in  and  be  caught.  —  New  York 
in  Slices,  Wall  Street. 

Lamming.     A  beating. 

•Land  Office.  An  office  or  place  in  which  the  sale  and  management  of 
the  public  lands  are  conducted.  —  Worcester.  These  offices  are  all  under 
the  control  of  the  General  Land  Office  at  Washington,  which  forms  one 
of  the  bureaus  of  the  Department  of  the  Literior. 

Land  Scrip.  A  certificate  or  certificates  that  the  purchase-money  for  a 
certain  portion  of  land  has  been  paid  to  the  officer  entitled  to  receive  it. 
See  Land  Warrant. 

The  surveyors  are  authorized  and  directed,  upon  the  application  of  any  holder  of 
land  scrip,  to  survey  at  the  expense  of  the  government  a  sufficient  quantity  of  vacant 
land  to  satisfy  such  legal  claims  of  all  holders  of  land  scrip  sold  by  this  government. 
—  Laws  of  Texas. 

Land  Warrant.  An  instrument  or  writing  issued  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  General  Land  Office,  authorizing  a  person  to  locate  or  take  up  a  tract 
of  new  or  uncultivated  land. 

Lane.     In  the  Carolinas,  all  roads  with  fences  on  each  side  are  called  lanes. 

Lanyap.     Something  over  and  above.     Louisiana. 


LAR  — LAW  237 

Lariat.  (Span.  Lariata.)  A  rope  made  with  thongs  of  raw  hide 
twisted  or  braided,  and  sometimes  of  sea  grass,  used  for  catching  and 
picketing  wild  horses  or  cattle.     It  is  also  called  a  lasso. 

The  greatest  display  of  skill  and  agility  of  the  arrieros  consists  in  their  dexterous 
use  of  the  lazo  or  lariat.  —  Gregg's  Commerce  of  the  Prairies. 

If  the  horse  manifested  the  least  restiveness,  Beatte  would  worry  him  with  the 
lariat  so  as  almost  to  throw  him  on  the  ground.  — Irving's  Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

The  lariat  [of  the  Califomian  hoy]  darted  from  his  hand  with  the  force  and  pre- 
cision of  a  rifle  ball,  and  rested  on  tlie  neck  of  the  fugitive  horse.  — Emory's  New 
Mexico  and  California,  p.  97. 

We  cooked  supper,  and  at  dark  picketed  the  animals  round  the  camp,  their  lariats, 
or  skin  ropes,  being  attached  to  pega  driven  in  the  ground. — Ruxton's  Mexico  and 
Rocky  Mountains,  p.  212. 

Laerup.     To  beat,  to  flog.  —  Forby. 

The  man  that  says  the  country  won't  be  safe  with  Old  Hickory,  who  larruped  the 
Indians,  and  whipped  the  British,  is  a  deceivin',  lyin'  cuss;  and  now,  boys,  all  of 
you,  oflF  hats  and  hurrah  for  Jackson !  —  Hammond,  Hills  and  Lakes. 

The  first  chance  I  got  I  was  gwiuc  to  larrup  him  like  all  fury,  and  as  soon  as  he 
heard  it,  began  cussin'  like  all  wrath.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  31. 

Just  come  on  an'  I  '11  larrup  you  till  your  mammy  won't  know  you  from  a  pile  of 
sausage  meat.  —  Southern  Fun  and  Sentiment,  p.  34. 

Lasso.  (Span,  lazo.)  A  long  rope  or  cord,  often  made  of  raw  hide,  with 
a  noose,  for  the  purpose  of  catching  wild  horses  or  buffaloes  on  the 
Western  prairies.  It  is  also  used  by  the  muleteers  for  catching  their 
mules.     See  Lariat. 

To  Lather.     To  beat.  —  WilhrahanCs  Glossary. 

Latherixg.     a  beating. 

Lathy.     Thin,  slender,  hke  a  lath. 

Lave  !  (French,  live.)  Get  up !  A  term  in  common  use  among  the 
hunters  and  mountaineers  of  the  Western  prairies  and  Kocky  Moun- 
tains. 

"  Lave,  ho  !  Lave !  Prairies  on  fire  !  Quick  —  catch  up  !  catch  up  !  "  This 
startling  announcement  instantly  brought  every  man  to  his  feet.  —  Scenes  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  p.  3-4. 

Law  Day.  The  day  on  which  a  magistrate  holds  court  at  a  country  tav- 
ern.    Common  in  thinly  settled  districts  in  the  West. 

Latt  Sakes.  Law  sahes  alive  !  i.  e.  for  the  Lord's  sake !  an  expression 
denoting  surprise  or  astonishment. 

Law  sokes  alive,  man  !  Make  a  question  between  our  nation  and  England  about 
fifty  deserters  !  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  23. 

La  WING.     Going  to  law.     "  I  got  my  debt  of  him  by  lawing."    Western. 


238  LAW— LEA 

Lawyer.  1.  (^Himantopiis  mgricolUs.)  The  black-necked  Stilt ;  a  small 
bird  whicli  lives  on  our  stores,  known  also  by  the  names  of  Tilt  and 
Longshanks.  On  the  New  Jersey  coast  it  is  sometimes  called  lawyer, 
on  account  of  its  "  long  bill." 

2.  (Genus,  Lota.)  A  fish  found  in  the  river  St.  Lawrence.  Mr. 
Hammond,  in  his  "  Wild  Northern  Scenes,"  thus  speaks  of  it : 

There  were  taken  in  the  net,  pickerel,  white  fish,  bass,  and  pike  by  the  dozen ;  and, 
what  was  a  stranger  to  me,  a  queer  looking  specimen  of  the  piscatory  tribe,  half  bull- 
head and  half  eel,  with  a  cross  of  the  lizard. 

"  What  on  earth  is  that  ?  "  said  I  to  the  fisherman. 

"  That,"  said  he,  "  is  a  species  of  ling ;  which  we  call  in  these  parts  a  lawyer." 
"  A  lawyer  !  "  said  I ;  "  why,  pray  1 " 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  replied,  "  unless  it 's  because  he  ain't  of  much  use,  and  the 
slippriest  fish  that  swims." — p.  45. 

Lay.  1.  Terms  or  conditions  of  a  bargain ;  price.  Ex.  "  I  bought  the 
articles  at  a  good  lay  ;  "  "  He  bought  his  goods  on  the  same  lay  that  I  did 
mine."  A  low  word,  used  in  New  England. — Pickering.'  Probably  a 
contraction  for  outlay,  i.  e.  expenditure. 

2.  The  word  is  also  used  colloquially  in  New  York  and. New  England 
in  relation  to  labor  or  contracts  performed  upon  shares ;  as,  when  a  man 
ships  for  a  whaling  voyage,  he  agrees  for  a  certain  lay,  i.  e.  a  share  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  voyage. 

He  took  in  his  fish  at  such  a  lay,  that  he  made  a  good  profit  on  them.  —  Peter 
Gott,  the  Fisherman, 

To  Lay,  for  to  lie.  A  vulgar  error,  equally  common  in  England  and  in 
the  United  States.  Thus  we  often  hear  and  also  see  in  print  such  phrases 
as,  "  he  laid  down,"  for  he  lay  down  to  sleep ;  "  that  bed  has  been  laid 
in,"  for  has  been  lain  in ;  "  the  land  lays  well,"  for  lies  well ;  it  "  lays  due 
north,"  for  lies,  etc.  In  the  following  extract  English  and  German  gram- 
mar are  both  set  at  naught : 

Lager  beer  derives  its  name  from  the  long  time  it  is  allowed  to  lay  (lager)  in  vats 
or  casks,  in  cool  cellars,  previous  to  consumption.  —  Wells,  Principles  and  Applica- 
tions of  Chemistry,  p.  436. 

Leader.  A  length  of  finely  twisted  hair,  gut,  or  grass,  for  attaching  an 
angler's  hook  to  the  line ;  a  bottom.     Called  also  a  Snell. 

Lean-to.  A  pent-house  ;  an  addition  made  to  a  house  behind,  or  at  the 
end  of  it,  chiefly  for  domestic  offices,  of  one  story  or  more,  lower  than  the 
main  building,  and  the  roof  of  it  leaning  against  the  wall  of  the  house.  — 
Forbys  Norfolk  Glossary.  The  word  is  used  in  New  England,  where  it 
is  usually  pronounced  Enter.  —  Pickering. 

Many  of  the  domestic  ofiices  of  the  household  were  performed  upon  the  stoop  or 
lean-to,  commonly  called  linter.  —  Brooke,  Eastford. 


LEA  — LEN  239 

liEATHER-WooD.  {Dirca  palustris.)  A  small  shrub  with,  flexible  branch- 
es and  a  tough,  leathery  bark,  "which  grows  in  woods  in  the  Northern 
States.    It  is  also  called  Moose  Wood ;  and  in  New  England,  Wicopy. 

Lecomptonite.  An  upholder  of  the  pro-slavery  constitution  for  Kansas 
promulgated  at  the  city  of  Lecompton. 

Leggings.  (Commonly  written  and  pronounced  leggins.)  Indian  wrap- 
pers for  the  legs ;  also  worn  by  the  white  hunters  and  trappers  of  the 
West,  both  on  account  of  the  mud  and  to  save  the  pantaloons  from  the 
sweat  of  the  horse.  The  Indians  of  New  Mexico  and  Texas  wear  leg- 
gings when  they  are  entirely  destitute  of  other  garments.  They  are  neces- 
sary there  to  protect  the  legs  when  riding  through  the  chapporal.  By 
some  they  are  called  Wrappers. 

How  piquantly  do  these  trim  and  beaded  leggings  peep  from  under  that  sunple 
dress  of  black,  as  its  tall  nut-bro^vn  wearer  moves  through  the  graceful  mazes  of  the 
dance  !  —  Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West,  p.  239. 

The  wofr  springs  ■n'ith  fearful  growl  towards  Stemaw,  who  slightly  wounds  him 
with  his  axe,  as  he  jumps  backwards  just  in  time  to  save  himself  from  the  infuriated 
animal,  which  catches  in  its  fangs  the  flap  of  his  leggin.  —  New  York  Spirit  of  the 
Times. 

Legislative.  The  Legislature.  This,  like  the  term  "  executive,"  is 
used  in  America  as  a  noun ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  so  common  as  that 
word.  —  Pickering. 

Leg-Stretcher.  It  is  said  that  drams  are  now  called  "  leg-stretchers  " 
in  Vermont.  It  is  an  every-day  occurrence  there  for  passengers  in  the 
stage-coaches,  while  the  latter  are  waiting  for  the  mails,  to  say,  "  I  guess 
I  '11  get  out  and  stretch  my  legs,"  which  always  ends  in  their  having  a 
drink  somewhere  in  the  hotel. 

Lengthy.  Having  length,  long,  not  brief;  tiresomely  long.  Applied 
often  to  dissertations  or  discourses ;  as,  "  a  lengthy  oration,"  "  a  lengthy 
speech."  —  Worcester. 

This  word  was  once  very  common  among  us,  both  in  writing  and  in 
the  language  of  conversation ;  but  it  has  been  so  much  ridiculed  by  Amer- 
icans as  well  as  Englishmen,  that  in  writing  it  is  now  generally  avoided. 
Mr.  Webster  has  admitted  it  into  his  Dictionary ;  but  (as  need  hardly  be 
remarked)  it  is  not  in  any  of  the  English  ones.  It  is  applied  by  us,  as 
Mr.  Webster  justly  observes,  chiefly  to  writings  or  discourses.  Thus  we 
say,  a  lengthy  pamphlet,  a  lengthy  sermpn,  etc.  The  Enghsh  would  say, 
a  long,  or  (in  the  more  famihar  style)  a  longish  sermon.  It  may  be  here 
remarked,  by  the  way,  that  they  make  much  more  use  of  the  termination 
ish  than  we  do ;  but  this  is  only  in  the  language  of  conversation.  —  Pick- 
ering. 


240  L  E  N 

Mr.  Pickering  has  many  other  interesting  remarks  on  this  word,  for 
which  I  refer  the  reader  to  his  work.  The  word  has  been  gradually  forc- 
ing its  way  into  general  use  since  the  time  in  which  he  wrote ;  and  that, 
too,  in  England  as  well  as  in  America.  Thus  Mr.  Rush,  in  relating  a  con- 
versation which  he  had  in  London,  observes :  "  Lord  Harrowby  spoke  of 
words  that  had  obtained  a  sanction  in  the  United  States,  in  the  condem- 
nation of  which  he  could  not  join ;  as,  for  example,  lengthy,  which  im- 
ported, he  said,  what  was  tedious  as  well  as  long  —  an  idea  that  no  other 
English  word  seemed  to  convey  as  well."  —  Residence  in  London,  p.  294. 
The  Penny  Cyclopaedia  remai'ks  on  it  to  the  same  effect,  and  even  dis- 
putes its  American  origin. 

A  writer  in  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  under  the  signature  of  "  W. 
X.,"  says,  that  he  has  met  with  the  word  lengthy  in  the  London  Times, 
the  Liverpool  Chronicle,  Blackwood's  Magazine,  the  Saturday  Maga- 
zine, the  British  Critic,  Quarterly  Review,  Monthly  Review,  Eclectic 
Review,  Westminster  and  Foreign  Quarterly  Reviews,  in  the  writings  of 
Dr.  Dibdin,  Bishop  Jebb,  Lord  Byron,  Coleridge,  etc.  etc.  Granby,  an 
English  author,  uses  the  word  lengthiness,  which  is  a  regularly  formed 
noun  from  lengthy.  Campbell  uses  the  adverb  lengthily.  In  his  "  Let- 
ters from  the  South,"  he  says  : 

I  could  discourse  lengthily  on  the  names  of  Jugurtha,  Juba,  Syphax,  etc. 
and  again : 

The  hair  of  the  head  is  bound  lengthily  behind. 

Here  follow  a  few  examples  from  English  and  American  writers,  out  of 
the  many  that  present  themselves : 

Murray  has  sent,  or  will  send,  a  double  copy  of  the  Bride  and  Giaour ;  in  the  last 
one  some  lengthy  additions  ;  pray  accept  them  according  to  the  old  custom.  —  Lord 
Byron's  Letter  to  Lh:  Clarke,  Dec.  13,  1813. 

All  tills  excitement  was  created  by  two  lengthy  paragraphs  in  the  Times.  —  London 
Athenoeum,  July  12,  1844,  p.  697. 

This  man  had  timely  warning  from  his  God 

To  build  a  spacious  ark  of  Gopher-wood  ; 

He,  moved  through  fear  and  faith,  the  structure  rears, 

Which  cost  the  arduous  task  of  six  score  years. 

While  Noah  thus  employed  tliis  lengthy  space,  etc. 

Noah's  Flood:  a  Poem  by  Jos.  Vail,  New  London,  1796. 
Chalmers's  Political  Annals,  in  treating  of  South  Carolina,  is  by  no  means  as 
lengthy  as  Mr.  Hewitt's  History.  — Drayton's  South  Carolina. 

I  did  not  mean  to  have  been  so  lengthy  when  I  began.  —  Jefferson's  Writings. 
I  forget  whether  Mr.  Sibthorpe  has  mentioned,  in  any  of  his  numerous  and  lengthy 
epistles,  this  circumstance.  —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life. 

Lengthily.    In  a  lengthy  manner.     Webster  credits  this  word  to  Jeffer- 
son. 


LET— LEV  241 

In  the  report  of  a  convention  of  "  Spiritualists  "  at  Farmington,  Mich- 
igan, it  is  said,  that, 

Mr.  Simmons  followed,  addressing  the  convention  quite  lengthily. — Spiritual  Tele- 
graph. 

To  Let  be.  To  refrain  from  annoying,  to  let  alone.  An  expression  often 
used  by  childi'en ;  as,  "  Let  me  be  ;  I  don't  trouble  you." 

To  Let  on.  To  mention  ;  to  disclose ;  to  betray  a  knowledge  or  conscious- 
ness of  any  thing.  " He  never  let  on"  i.  e.  he  never  told  me.  This 
expression  is  often  heard  among  the  illiterate,  and  is  not  confined  to  any 
particular  section  of  the  United  States.  It  is  also  used  in  the  North  of 
England  and  in  Scotland. 

'T  is  like  I  may,  —  but  let  na  on  what 's  past 
'Tween  you  and  me,  else  fear  a  kittle  cast. 

Ramsay,  The  Gentle  Shepherd. 
The  tears  were  runnin'  out  of  my  eyes ;  but  I  did  n't  want  to  let  on,  for  fear  it  would 
make  her  feel  bad.  — Major  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  84. 

To  Let  out.     To  begin  a  story  or  narrative.     A  Western  expression. 

Tom  squared  himself  for  a  yam,  wet  his  lips  with  a  little  com  juice,  took  a  small 
strip  of  Missouri  weed,  and  let  out.  —  liobb.  Squatter  Life. 

To  Let  Slide.  To  let  go ;  as,  "  That  fish  you  have  hooked  is  not  fit  to 
eat ;  let  him  slide." 

In  bad  places  you  may  fasten  a  rope  to  the  axle  of  the  wagon,  and,  passing  the 
end  round  a  tree,  you  may  let  her  slide.  —  F.  Marryatt,  California. 

In  a  debate  in  Congress  on  a  bill  providing  for  the  establishment  of  an 
overland  mail  to  California,  the  annual  cost  of  which  was  estimated  at 
half  a  million  of  dollars,  Mr.  Iverson  said  : 

If  California  was  going  to  cost  the  Union  so  much,  it  would  be  better  to  let  Cali- 
fornia slide. 

Sal  Stebbins  married  a  feller  blind  in  one  eye  and  deaf  in  one  ear ;  so  I  thought 
if  she  was  a  mind  to  take  such  a  chap,  I  'd  better  let  her  slide.  —  Traits  of  American 
Humor. 

"  Come,  Sol,  let 's  have  a  game  of  poker." 

"  Oh,  let  the  poker  slide.  Judge,"  replied  Sol ;  "  some  other  time  when  I  want  a 
stake,  I  '11  make  a  call."  —  A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p.  221. 

Let  up.  A  let  up  is  a  release ;  a  relief.  An  expression  borrowed  from 
pugilists. 

There  was  no  let  up  in  the  stock  market  to .  day,  and  the  differences  paid  on  the 
matm'ing  contracts  were  very  large. — New  York  Tribune. 

Levee.  1.  (Fr.  levee).  An  embankment  on  the  side  of  a  river,  to  confine 
it  within  its  natural  channel.  The  lower  part  of  Louisiana,  which  has 
been  formed  by  encroachments  upon  the  sea,  is  subject  to  be  inundated 

21 


242  LEV  — Lie 

by  the  Mississippi  and  its  various  branches  for  a  distance  of  more  than 
three  hundred  miles.  In  order  to  protect  the  rich  lands  on  these  rivers, 
mounds  are  thrown  up,  of  clay,  cypress  logs,  and  green  turf,  sometimes 
to  the  height  of  fifteen  feet,  with  a  breadth  of  thirty  feet  at  the  base. 
These,  in  the  language  of  that  part  of  the  country,  are  called  levees. 
They  extend  for  hundreds  of  miles ;  and  when  the  rivers  are  full,  cul- 
tivated fields,  covered  with  rich  crops  and  studded  with  villages,  are  seen 
lying  far  below  the  river  courses.  —  Encyclopcedia  Americana. 

The  great  feature  of  New  Orleans  is  the  Levee.  Extending  for  about  five  miles  in 
length,  and  an  average  of  two  hundred  feet  in  width,  on  the  west  bank  of  this  river, 
which  here  runs  to  the  north-east,  it  is  made  the  great  depot,  not  only  for  the  products 
of  the  vast  country  bordering  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  navigable  tributaries,  but 
also  of  every  foreign  port,  by  means  of  about  five  hundred  steamboats  on  the  one 
hand,  and  every  variety  of  sea-craft  on  tlie  other,  which  are  at  all  times  to  be  seen  in 
great  numbers  along  the  entire  length,  discharging  and  receiving  their  cargoes.  — 
Cor.  of  New  York  Tribune. 

2.  (Fr.  lever.)  The  time  of  rising ;  the  concourse  of  persons  who 
visit  a  prince  or  great  personage  in  the  morning.  —  Johnson. 

Such  as  are  troubled  with  the  disease  of  ?ei'ee-hunting,  and  are  forced  to  seek  their 
bread  every  morning  at  the  chamber  doors  of  great  men.  —  Addison,  Spectator,  No. 
547. 

This  word  has  been  curiously  perverted  by  us  from  its  original  signifi- 
cation, so  as  to  mean  an  evening  (!)  party  or  assembly  at  the  house  of  a 
great  or  wealthy  person  ;  as,  "  the  President's  levee." 

Leveeing.     Constructing  levees  on  a  river's  bank. 

If  we  cannot  protect  ourselves  from  overflow,  these  lands  will  be  almost  worth- 
less, and  the  slaves  on  them  must  find  a  tillable  soil  in  the  West,  our  hill  lands  being 
now  fully  occupied.  How  are  we  to  bo  protected?  "By  leveeing.  —  De Bow's  Re- 
view, Oct.  1858. 

Levy.  Elevenpence.  In  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Vir- 
ginia, the  Spanish  real,  or  eighth  part  of  a  dollar,  or  twelve  and  a  half  cents. 
Sometimes  called  an  elevenpenny  hit.     See  Federal  Currency,  and  Bit. 

Liberty  Cap.  A  peaked  cap  placed  on  the  head  of  the  goddess  of  Lib- 
erty or  on  liberty  poles.     See  Liberty  Pole. 

Liberty  Pole.  A  tall  pole,  sometimes  constructed  of  several  pieces  of 
timber  like  a  ship's  mast,  and  surmounted  by  a  "  liberty  cap,"  the  whole  in 
allusion  to  Gessler's  cap  which  Tell  refused  to  do  homage  to,  thus  leading 
to  the  freedom  of  Switzerland.  Many  of  these  poles  are  erected  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  American  cities. 

Lick:  or  Salt  Lick.  A  salt  spring  is  called  a  licJc,  from  the  earth  about 
.it  being  furrowed  out  in  a  most  curious  manner,  by  the  buffalo  and 


Lie  — LIF  243 

deer,  which  lich  the  earth  on  account  of  the  saline  particles  with  which  it 
is  impregnated.  —  Imlay's  Topogr.  Description  of  the  Western  Territory. 

A  lick  does  not  necessarily  imply  the  presence  of  a  spring  ;  the  decom- 
position of  sulphurets  by  atmospheric  agency  often  makes  a  "  lick  "  on 
the  face  of  a  rocky  cliflF. 

Licks.  Strokes ;  and  hence  efforts,  exertions.  "  To  put  in  big  licks  "  is  to 
make  great  exertions,  to  work  hard. 

Molly  war  the  most  enticia',  gizzard-ticklin',  heart-distressin'  feline  creatur  that 
ever  made  a  fellar  get  owdacious  ;  and  I  seed  Tom  Seller  cavertin'  round  her,  and 
puttin'  in  the  biggest  kitid  a  licks  in  the  way  of  courtin'.  —  The  Americans  at  Home, 
Vol.  I.  p.  276. 

LiCKETT  Split.  Very  fast,  headlong ;  synonymous  with  the  equally  ele- 
gant phrase  "  full  chisel."  "  He  went  lickety  split  down  hill."  Lickety  cut 
and  lickety  liner  are  also  used. 

Lie.     a  lie  out  of  whole  cloth  is  an  utter  falsehood. 

In  the  second  place,  we  are  authorized  by  these  gentlemen  to  say  that  the  state- 
ment is  in  itself  utterly  false  —  "a  lie,"  as  one  of  the  commissioners  wished  us  to 
say,  "  out  of  whole  cloth."  —  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser. 

To  Lie  doavn.  To  go  to  bed.  In  Tennessee,  when  a  stranger  is  asked  if 
he  will  retire  for  the  night,  the  question  is,  "  Will  you  lie  down  ?  " 

LiEFEi:  or  LiEVER.  More  willingly,  rather.  A  colloquialism  also  used 
in  England. 

"  I  will,"  I  replied,  "  and  I  had  liefer  read  it  now  than  before  the  beautiful 
music." — Putnam's  Monthly,  March,  1855. 

LiEFS  or  LiEVES.  A  con*uption  of  lief  or  lieve ;  as,  "  I  'd  as  lieves  be 
seen  as  not." 

Life  Everlasting.     See  "Everlasting." 

Lift.  Used  by  the  farmers  in  some  parts  of  New  England  to  signify  a  sort 
of  gate  without  hinges.  —  Pickerinfs  Vocabulary.  This  word  is  also 
used  in  some  parts  of  England.  Mr.  Forby  calls  it  "  a  sort  of  coarse, 
rough  gate  of  sa^vn  wood,  not  hung,  but  driven  into  the  gi'ound  by  pointed 
stakes,  like  a  hurdle,  used  for  the  same  purposes  of  subdividing  lands, 
stopping  gaps  in  fences,  etc.  and  deriving  it^  name  from  the  necessity  of 
lifting  it  up  for  the  pui-pose  of  passing  through.  In  Suffolk,  a  lift  differs 
from  a  gate,  in  havuig  the  projecting  ends  of  the  back  and  lower  bar  let 
into  mortice  holes  in  the  posts,  into  and  out  of  which  it  must  be  lifted." — 
Norfolk  Glossary. 

To  Lift  one's  Hair,  in  the  figurative  language  of  the  Western  hunters, 
is  to  scalp  him. 


244  LIG  — LIK 

LiG.  A  fish-hook  with  lead  cast  round  its  upper  part,  in  order  to  sink  it. 
Maine. 

Light  Bread.  Fermented  bread  of  wheat  flour ;  so  called  to  distinguish 
it  from  corn  bread.     South  and  West. 

Light  Wood.  Pine  wood  as  opposed  to  slower  burning  wood,  not  on  ac- 
count of  the  lightness  of  the  wood,  but  of  the  light  aflTorded  by  it  in  burn- 
ing, a  matter  of  some  importance  where  candles  are  not  to  be  had. 

Stranger,  it's  quite  a  long  history,  and  I  '11  put  on  a  fi-esh  handful  of  light  wood  be- 
fore I  begin.  —  Simms,  The  Wigivam  and  Cabin. 

Tlie  inliabitants  pick  up  knots  of  light  wood,  which  they  bum  into  tar,  and  then 
carry  it  to  Norfolk  to  a  market.  — Westover  Papers,  p.  27. 
"  Co3sar,  fly  round  and  get  a  fire." 
"  Massa !  de  light  wood  am  done  gone,  sah." 

"  Gone  too,  then,  is  all  chance  for  fire  or  food.  For  who  ever  heard  of  a  nigger 
that  could  build  a  fire  without  light  wood  ?"  —  The  Americans  at  Home,  Vol.  I. 

Like.  1.  For  as.  As  in  the  phrase,  "  like  I  do  "  for  as  I  do.  Not  pecul- 
iar to  America. 

Each  Indian  carried  a  great  square  piece  of  whale's  blubbei',  with  a.  hole  in  the 
middle,  tlirough  wliich  they  put  their  lieads,  like  the  Guachos  do  through  their  cloaks. 
—  Darivin's  Journal  of  a  Naturalist,  ch.  10. 

As  soon  as  the  post-office  was  open,  I  looked  over  the  miscellany  like  I  always  do, 
afore  I  let  anybody  take  it.  —  Major  Jones's  Courtship. 

2.    For  as  if,  or,  as  though.     A  vulgarism  common  at  the  West. 

The  fever  nager  got  fastened  to  me,  and  stuck  jest  like  a  Comanche  on  a  mustang : 
the  worse  it  jumps  the  tighter  he  sticks,  as  if  he  was  glued  to  the  saddle,  or  like  he 
was  one  of  them  rale  half  horse  and  half  alhgator  fellows.  — New  York  Spirit  of  the 
Times,  Western  Tale. 

The  old  fellow  drank  of  the  brandy  like  he  was  used  to  it.  — Southern  Sketches. 

Like  a  Book.  To  know  a  person  or  thing  like  a  hook,  means  to  have 
studied  him  or  it,  to  know  him  or  it  thoroughly. 

He  knew  the  woods  like  a  book,  and  had  got  a  pretty  cute  notion  whar  Bill  Stone 
would  bring  up.  — New  York  Spirit  of  the  Times,  Western  Tale. 

Likely.  That  may  be  liked ;  that  may  please ;  handsome.  In  the  United 
States,  as  a  colloquial  term,  respectable  ;  worthy  of  esteem ;  sensible.  — 
Worcester. 

Mr.  Webster  has  the  following  remarks  on  this  word :  "  This  use  of 
likely  [i.  e.  in  the  sense  of,  such  as  may  be  liked,  pleasing]  is  not  obso- 
lete, nor  is  it  vulgar.  But  the  English  and  their  descendants  differ  in  the 
application.  The  English  apply  the  word  to  external  appeax'ance,  and 
with  them  likely  is  equivalent  to  handsome,  well-formed  ;  as,  a  likely  man, 
a  likely  horse.  In  America,  the  word  is  usually  applied  to  the  endow- 
ments of  the  mind,  or  to  pleasing  accomplishments.     With  us,  a  likely 


LIL  — LIN  245 

man  is  a  man  of  good  character  and  talents,  or  of  good  disposition  or  ac- 
complishments, that  render  him  pleasing  or  respectable." 

That  the  word,  however,  is  also  used  here  in  its  Enghsh  sense,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  following  quotation: 

A  gang  of  seventeen  likely  negro  men,  o\vned  in  the  vicinity  of  Northampton, 
Virginia,  made  an  attempt  on  Monday  last  to  escape  to  New  York.  — Norfolk  (Va.) 
Herald,  Oct.  1,  1849. 

Lily-Pads.     Leaves  of  the  water-lily. 

Limb.  Leg.  This  is  one  of  the  mock-modest  expressions  of  which  our 
people  are  overfond. 

K  we  know  any  thing  of  English  conversation  or  letters,  we  speedily  find  out,  even 
if  stone  blind,  that  British  men  and  women  have  both  arms  and  legs.  But  in  Can- 
ada a  stranger  who  could  not  see  would  find  it  difficult  to  discover  much  about  our 
conformation.  He  would  learn  that  both  sexes  had  limbs  of  some  sort  ;  but  from 
any  information  whicli  our  language  would  give  he  could  not  tell  whether  their  limhs 
were  used  to  stand  on  or  hold  by. — Rev.  A.  C.  Geikie,  in  Canadian  Journal,  Sept. 
1857. 

This  will  do  for  a  provincial  place  like  Canada;  but  the  universal 
Yankee  nation  does  not  restrict  its  application  of  the  word  to  "  humans," 
as  appears  from  the  following : 

Om-  exchanges  bring  us  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Dan  Rice's  well-known 
horse  "  Excelsior."  The  poor  brute,  it  would  appear,  fell  from  the  stairs  which  he 
used  to  ascend  in  the  ring,  and,  fracturing  his  limb,  his  death  w£\s  rendered  necessary. 
— Pittsburg  Chronicle,  June,  1858. 

Limits.  The  extent  of  the  liberties  of  a  prison.  —  Webster.  Called  also 
Jail  liberties. 

LiMST.     Weak ;  flexible.     New  England.  —  Webster. 

Line.     The  route  of  a  stage-coach,  raih*oad,  packet,  or  steamer. 

To  Line.  To  fish  with  a  line.  So,  to  seine,  i.  e.  to  fish  with  a  seine.  I 
have  never  seen  these  words  used  except  by  Dr.  J.  V.  C.  Smith,  in  his 
History  of  the  Fishes  of  Massachusetts ;  and  for  so  interesting  a  book  the 
Doctor  is  well  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  coining  a  phrase  or  two. 

The  squeteague  is  taken  both  by  lining  and  seining,  and  because  it  makes  such  fee- 
ble exertion  and  resistance,  in  being  drawn  in  by  a  hook,  it  has  received  the  appella- 
tion of  tceak  fish.  — Fishes  of  Massachusetts. 

To  Line  Bees  is  to  track  wild  bees  to  their  homes  in  the  woods.  One 
who  follows  this  occupation  is  called  a  bee  hunter. 

At  killing  every  wild  animal  of  the  woods  or  prairies,  at  fishing,  or  at  lining  bees, 
the  best  hunters  acknowledged  his  supremacy. — Kendall. 

I've  hear'n  tell  of  such  doin's,  but  never  see'd  a  bee  lined  in  all  my  life,  and  have 
a  desp'rate  fancy  for  lamin'  of  all  sorts,  from  'rithmetic  to  preachin.'  —  Cooper,  The 
Oak  Openings. 

21* 


246 


LIN  — LIQ 


Liner.  The  ships  belonging  to  the  regular  lines  of  London,  Liverpool,  or 
Havre  packets  ai-e  called  liners,  to  distinguish  them  from  transient  ships 
saiUng  to  the  same  ports. 

Lines.  The  reins,  or  that  part  of  the  bridle  which  extends  from  the  horse's 
head  to  the  hands  of  the  driver  or  coachman. 

LiNGUiSTER.  (Pron.  linkister.)  A  seaman's  term  for  an  interpreter ;  a 
linguist.     Also,  in  New  England,  applied  to  a  talkative  person. 

It  is  a  damnable  thing  for  a  youngster,  up  here,  to  talk  French.  If  it  were  on  the 
Atlantic  now,  where  a  seafaring  man  has  occasion  sometimes  to  converse  with  a 
pilot  or  a  lingiiister  in  that  language,  I  should  not  think  so  much  of  it.  —  Cooper, 
The  Pathfinder,  p.  219. 

Liquor.  Many  and  very  singular  names  have  been  given  to  the  various 
compounds  or  mixtures  of  spirituous  liquors  and  wines  served  up  in  fash- 
ionable bar-rooms  in  the  United  States.  The  following  list  is  taken  from 
one  advertisement : 


do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 


Plain  mint  julep. 
Fancy- 
Mixed 
Peach 
Pineapple 
Claret 
Capped 
Strawberry  de. 
Arrack  do. 

Kacehorse     do. 
Sherry  cobbler. 
Rochelle  do. 
Arrack      do. 
Peach       do. 
Claret       do. 
Tip  and  Ty. 
Fiscal  agent. 
Veto. 
Slip  ticket. 
Polk  and  Dallas. 


I.  O.  U. 
Tippe  na  Pecco. 
Moral  suasion. 
Vox  populi. 
Ne  plus  ultra. 
Shambro. 
Virginia  fancy. 
Knickerbocker. 
Smasher. 
Floater. 

Pig  and  whistle. 
CitroncUa  Jam. 

Sargent. 
Silver  top. 
Poor  man's  punch. 

Arrack  do. 

Iced  do. 

Spiced  do. 

Epicure's  do. 


Milk  punch. 

Cheny  do. 

Peach    do. 

Jewctt's  fancy. 

Deacon. 

Exchange. 

Stone  wall. 

Sifter. 

Soda  punch. 

Slingflip. 

Cocktail. 

Apple-jack. 

Chain-lightning. 

Phlegm-cutter. 

Switchel-flip. 

Ching-ching. 

Tog. 

Ropee. 

Porteree. 

etc.  etc. 


In  Liquor.     Intoxicated,  drunk. 


To  Liquor,  or  To  Liquor  up.     To  take  a  dram ;  or,  as  we  more  fre- 
quently say,  to  take  a  drink. 

He  was  the  first  to  break  silence,  and,  jumping  up,  asked  all  to  liquw  before  going 
to  bed.  — Porter's  Tales  of  the  South-west,  p.  31. 

"  The  child  must  be  named  Margaret."  "  No  !  Mary,"  replied  the  father,  "  in 
honor  of  my  esteemed  wife.  Besides,  that 's  a  Bible  name,  and  we  can't  liquor  up 
on  Margaret."  —  Margaret,  p.  89. 

"  I  '11  drink  with  you,  and  you  drink  with  me  ;  an'  then  we  '11  call  it  square." 


LIS  — LOA  247 

"  Agreed  ! "  says  I,  "  an'  we  licTcered  round  twiste  ;  an'  Jo  and  I  shook  hands,  an' 
squared  off  all  old  accounts."  —  Traits  of  American  Humor,  Vol.  II.  p.  75. 

"  Liquor  up,  gentlemen."  "We  bowed.  "  Let  me  introduce  you  to  some  of  the 
most  highly  esteemed  of  our  citizens."  We  bowed  again.  "  Now  then,  Mister," 
turning  to  the  man  at  the  bar,  "  drinks  round  and  cobblers  at  that."  — Kotes  on  Can.' 
ada  and  the  North-western  States,  Blackwood's  Mag.  Sept.  1855. 

Lister.  One  who  makes  a  list  or  roll.  —  Webster.  This  word  is  used  in 
Connecticut,  and  is  applied  to  those  who  make  out  lists  or  returns  of  cat- 
tle or  other  property.     I  have  never  heard  the  word  used  elsewhere. 

Little  End  of  the  Horn.  "  To  come  out  at  the  little  end  of  the  horn" 
is  said  when  a  ridiculously  small  effect  has  been  produced  after  great 
effort  and  much  boasting. 

Live  forever.  The  name  of  a  fanatical  sect  in  Kentucky  whose  princi- 
pal article  of  faith  was  that  those  who  had  "  faith "  would  never  die. 
Wlienever  a  member  died,  the  answer  to  this  very  striking  argumentum 
ad  hominem  was,  that  he  had  not  the  "  faith."  The  number,  never  very 
large,  was  reduced  in  1850  to  two,  and  one  of  these  had  left  the  sect,  leav- 
ing but  one  "  live  forever." 

Live  Horse.  In  printers'  parlance,  work  done  over  and  above  that  in- 
cluded in  the  week's  biU.     See  Dead  Horse. 

Llano.  (Spanish.)  The  plains  or  prairies  of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and 
other  States  and  Territories  bordering  on  Mexico,  are  so  called  by  the 
people  residing  there. 

Loafer.  A  vagabond ;  an  idle  lounger.  This  peculiarly  American  word 
has  been  gradually  growing  into  extensive  use  during  the  last  thirty 
years.  It  was  applied  in  the  first  place  to  the  vagrants  of  our  large  towns, 
in  which  sense  it  is  equivalent  to  the  lazzarone  of  Naples  or  the  lepero  of 
Mexico.  It  is  now,  however,  frequently  applied  in  conversation  and  in 
the  newspapers  to  idlers  in  general,  and  seems  to  have  lost  somewhat  of 
its  original  vulgarity.  The  Philadelphia  Vade  Mecum  has  the  following 
remarks  upon  it : 

"  This  is  a  new  word,  and,  as  yet,  being  but  a  colt,  or  a  chrysalis,  is  re- 
garded as  a  slang  epithet.  It  is,  however,  a  good  word,  one  much  needed 
in  the  language,  and  will,  in  time,  establish  itself  in  the  most  refined  dic- 
tionai'ies.  It  will  mount  into  good  society,  and  be  uttered  by  aristocratic 
lips  ;  for  it  is  the  only  word  designating  the  most  important  species  of  the 
genus  idler  —  the  most  important,  because  the  most  annoying  branch  of 
that  family. 

"  The  loafer  is  not  exclusively,  as  some  suppose  him,  a  ragged  step- 
and-comer  lounger,  who  sleeps  in  the  sun,  and  '  hooks '  sugar  on  the 


248  LOA 

wharf.  On  the  contrary,  the  propensity  to  loaf  is  confined  to  no  rank  in 
life ;  all  conditions  are,  more  or  less,  troubled  with  it.  Like  squinting, 
the  king  and  the  beggar  may  be  equally  afflicted  with  the  imperfection. 
There  be  your  well-dressed  moneyed  loafer,  as  well  as  your  loafer  who  is 
nightly  taken  by  the  watch. 

"  He  is  that  kind  of  a  man,  who,  having  nothing  to  do,  or  being  unwil- 
ling to  do  any  thing,  cannot  keep  his  tediousness  to  himself,  and  therefore 
bestows  it  all  upon  others,  not  when  they  are  at  leisure  for  conversational 
recreation,  but  when  business  presses,  and  they  would  look  black  upon  the 
intrusion  of  a  sweetheart  or  a  three-day  wife.  He  is  the  drag-chain  upon 
industry,  and  yet  so  far  different  from  the  drag-chain,  that  he  hitches  to 
the  wheel  when  the  pull  is  up  hill.  Loving  the  excitement  of  busy  scenes, 
yet  too  lazy  to  be  an  actor  in  them,  where  men  are  busiest,  there  too  is 
to  be  found  the  pure,  unadulterated  loafer,  sprawling  about  as  the  hound 
sprawls  before  the  fire  in  everybody's  way,  and  tripping  up  everybody's 
heels.  Li  the  store,  he  sits  upon  the  counter,  swinging  his  useless  legs, 
and  gaping  vacantly  at  the  movements  around  him.  In  the  office,  he  ef- 
fectually checks  necessary  conversation  among  those  who  do  not  wish  their 
business  bruited  to  the  world,  turns  over  papers  which  he  has  no  right  to 
touch,  and  squints  at  contents  which  he  has  no  right  to  know.  In  the 
oounting-house,  he  perches  on  a  stool,  interrupts  difficult  calculations  with 
chal?  as  idle  as  himself,  follows  the  bustling  clerk  to  the  storehouse,  pouches 
the  genuine  Havana,  quaffs  nectar  from  proof-glasses,  and  makes  himself 
free  of  the  good  things  which  belong  to  othei*s." 

The  origin  of  this  word  is  altogether  uncertain.  Two  etymologies  have 
been  suggested  for  it,  namely,  the  German  laufer,  a  runner  (comp.  the 
Dutch  leeglooper  and  landlooper,  a  vagrant)  ;  and  the  Spanish  gallofo 
(whence  the  Italian  gagloffo),  a  wandering  mendicant,  a  vagabond.  A 
writer  in  Notes  and  Queries  tells  the  following  story  of  its  origin,  wliich 
certainly  si  non  e  vero,  e  ben  trovato. 

An  old  Dutchman  settled  at  New  York,  and  acquired  a  considerable  fortune.  He 
had  an  only  daughter,  and  a  young  American  fell  in»love  with  her  or  her  dollars,  or 
both.  The  old  father  forbade  him  his  house,  but  the  daughter  encouraged  him. 
Whenever  the  old  merchant  saw  the  lover  about  the  premises,  he  used  to  exclaim  to 
his  daughter,  "  There  is  that  '  lofer '  [lover]  of  yours,  the  idle  good-for-nothing," 
etc. ;  and  so  an  idle  man,  hanging  about,  came  to  be  called  a  "  loafer." 

The  following  illustration  of  the  use  of  the  word  is  now  "  going  the 
rounds  "  of  the  newspapers  : 

"  You  're  a  loafer  —  a  man  without  a  calling,"  said  a  judge  to  a  person  arrested  as 
a  vagrant.  "  I  beg  your  pardon,  your  honor,  I  have  a  vocation."  "  What  is  it  1 " 
"1  smoke  glass  for  eclipses  ;  but  just  now  it  is  our  dull  season." 

To  Loafer  or  Loaf.     To  lounge  ;  to  idle  away  one's  time.     The  verb  is 
of  more  recent  origin  than  the  noun. 


LOA  — LOB  249 

We  arrived  at  the  tow-n  of  Tincenn,  the  sun  being  exceedingly  hot,  we  waited  till 
evening.  The  Casa  Real  in  this  as  in  other  towns  of  the  province  was  the  loafering 
place  of  the  Indians.  — Norman's  Yucatan,  p.  88. 

The  Senate  has  loafed  away  the  week  in  very  gentlemanly  style.  — New  York  Com- 
mercial Advertiser,  Dec.  1845. 

The  street  [in  Hangtown,  California,]  was  crowded  all  day  with  miners  loafing 
about  from  store  to  store,  making  their  purchases  and  asking  each  other  to  drink.  — 
Borthwick's  California,  p.  118. 

To  Loan.  To  lend.  This  verb  is  inserted  by  Todd  on  the  authority  of 
Huloet  (1552)  and  Langley  (1664),  and  noted  "not  now  in  use."  It  is, 
however,  much  used  in  this  country,  though  rarely  in  England.  —  Worces- 
ier. 

The  Westminster  Review,  speaking  of  the  "  Chronicles  of  Wolfert's 
Roost  and  other  Papers,"  lately  published  by  "Washington  Irving,  says  : 
"  He  has  the  finish  of  our  best  English  critics  ;  he  has  the  equability  and  gentle 
humor  of  Addison  and  Goldsmith.    It  is  very  rarely  that  we  come  upon  an  Amer- 
icanism ;  he  is  not,  however,  wholly  guiltless  ;  he  makes  use  of  the  expression  to 
"loan  a  few  pounds." 

In  England,  when  one  man  accommodates  another  with  the  use  of  money  for  a 
time,  he  lends  it.  The  sum  is  called  a  loan  ;  but  he  who  provides  it  is  said  to  lend 
or  to  have  lent.  Here,  however,  it  is  becoming  usual  to  speak  of  having  loaned  to 
another.  Webster  says  that  to  loan  is  rarely  used  in  England,  and  I  may  say  that  I 
never  heard  it  there.  What  advantage  then  does  it  possess  over  the  more  familiar 
form  of  the  verb  that  it  should  supersede  it  here  ?  Surely  the  phrase,  "  money  to 
lend,"  is  sufficiently  intelligible.  To  talk  of  loaning  money  would  suggest  to  an 
unsophisticated  Englishman  the  idea  of  some  unknown  process  at  the  mint.  — 
Geikie,  in  Canadian  Journal,  Sept.  1857. 

Loan-Office.  A  public  office  in  which  loans  of  money  are  negotiated  for 
the  public,  or  in  which  the  accounts  of  loans  are  kept  and  the  interest 
paid  to  the  lenders.  —  Webster. 

Loan-Officer.  A  public  officer  empowered  to  superintend  and  transact 
the  business  of  a  loan  office.  —  Webster. 

Lobby.     The  persons  who  frequent  the  lobby  of  a  house  of  legislature. 

The  special  correspondent  of  the  London  Times  in  writing  from  Wash- 
ington, thus  speaks  of  the  Congressional  "  Lobby  "  and  its  influence : 
The  Lobby  of  Washington  has  of  late  years  grown  to  be  an  appreciable  influence, 
and  much  indignation  is  expressed  by  political  purists  at  its  existence.  But  prob- 
ably there  never  was  a  legislative  body  in  the  world  without  something  of  the  kind. 
In  the  old  Parliament  of  Ireland  there  were  regular  "  undertakers  of  the  king's 
business,"  who  did  not  necessarily  have  seats  among  the  men  they  influenced ;  and 
the  House  of  Commons  has  recognised  parliamentary  agents.  The  business  of  the 
American  Lobby  is  something  of  the  same  kind,  but  it  has  not  yet  obtained  a  formal 
organization.  It  is  at  present  an  outside  pressure  exercised  by  a  miscellaneous 
crowd  of  persons,  whose  influence  may  be  social,  or  political,  or  local,  or  a  combina- 
tion of  any  of  those  elements ;  they  are  often  agents  of  other  parties,  simply  rema- 


250  LOB  — LOG 

nerated  for  their  exertions,  or  they  are  both  agents  or  principals,  having  themselves 
a  large  joint  share  in  the  undertalcing  at  issue.  Many  are  ex-members  of  Congress, 
who  have  the  privilege  of  admission  to  the  lobby. 

To  Lobby.  To  attempt  to  exert  an  influence  on  the  members  of  a  legis- 
lative body,  by  besieging  them  in  the  lobbies  of  the  house  where  they 
meet.  So  necessary  has  this  business  of  lobbying  now  become,  that,  when 
a  petition  is  sent  to  a  legislature,  particularly  for  an  act  of  incorporation, 
it  is  very  common  for  one  or  more  individuals  to  take  it  in  charge  for  the 
purpose  of  "  lobbying  it  through." 

There  is  a  quarrel  in  Philadelphia  about  -Mr.  W 's  appointments.     Some  of 

the  Loco-focos  have  come  out  to  lobby  against  him.  —  New  York  Tribune. 

A  committee  has  gone  to  Albany  to  lobby  for  a  new  bank  charter.  —  New  York 
Courier  and  Enquirer. 

LOBBT-MEMBEK.  A  person  who  frequents  the  lobby  of  a  house  of  legisla- 
tion. —  Worcester. 

Loblolly  Bay.  {Gordonia  lasyanthus.)  An  elegant  ornamental  tree 
of  the  maritime  parts  of  the  Southern  States,  called  also  Holly  Bay.  Its 
bark  is  useful  for  tanning,  but  its  wood  of  but  little  value. 

To  Locate.  1.  To  place  ;  to  set  in  a  particular  spot  or  position.  —  Pick- 
ering. Webster.  This  word  is  comparatively  modem  in  England,  and  is 
not  found  in  any  of  the  dictionaries  previous  to  Todd's.  It  is  used  among 
us  much  more  frequently  and  in  a  greater  variety  of  senses  than  in  Eng- 
land. 

Under  this  roof  the  biographer  of  Johnson  passed  many  jovial,  joyous  hours ;  here 
he  has  located  some  of  the  liveliest  scenes,  and  most  brilliant  passages,  in  his  enter- 
taining anecdotes  of  his  friend  Samuel  Johnson.  —  Cumberland,  Memoirs  of  Himself  . 

The  Asega-bok,  the  book  of  the  judge,  contains  the  laws  of  the  Rustringiau  Trie- 
sians  located  around  the  gulf  of  the  Jade.  —  Bosworth,  Preface  to  Anglo-Saxon  Dic- 
tionary, p.  61. 

The  archbishops  and  bishops  of  England  can  neither  locate  and  limit  dioceses  in 
America,  nor  ordain  bishops  in  any  part  of  the  dominions  of  Great  Britain,  out  of 
the  realm,  by  any  law  of  the  kingdom,  or  any  law  of  the  colonics,  or  by  any  canon 
law  acknowledged  by  either.  —  John  Adams,  Letter  to  Dr.  Morse. 

A  number  of  courts  properly  located  will  keep  the  business  of  any  country  in  such 
condition  as  but  few  suits  will  be  instituted.  — Debates  on  the  Judiciary,  p.  51. 

As  we  don't  know  exactly  where  our  own  souls  reside,  what  harm  is  there  to  pur- 
sue such  an  investigation  as  to  our  black  brethren  ?  My  private  opinion  is,  if  a  nig- 
ger has  one,  it  is  located  in  his  head.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  172. 

So  too  a  town,  a  village,  and  even  a  piece  of  ground,  is  said  to  be 
located,  i.  e.  placed,  situated,  in  a  particular  position. 

Baber  refers  to  villages  formerly  located,  as  at  the  present  day,  on  the  plains,  etc. 
— Masson's  Travels  in  Afghanistan,  Vol.  III.  p.  193. 


LOG  251 

When  Port  Essington  was  located,  all  these  difficulties  had  to  be  suffered  over 
again.  —  Stokes's  Australia,  Vol.  I.  p.  401. 

A  lot  of  earth  so  singularly  located,  as  marks  it  out  by  Providence  to  be  the  empo- 
rium of  plenty  and  the  asylum  of  peace.  —  [London]  Observer. 

And  hence  arise  the  following  American  uses  of  the  word : 

2.  To  select,  survey,  and  settle  the  bounds  of  a  particular  tract  of  land, 
or  to  designate  a  portion  of  land  by  limits ;  as,  to  locate  a  tract  of  a  hun- 
dred acres  in  a  particular  township.  —  Webster. 

In  December,  1768,  Arthur  Lee  presented  a  petition  to  the  king  in 
council,  praying: 

That  your  Majesty  would  grant  to  his  petitioners,  to  be  fifty  in  number,  by  the 
name  of  the  Mississippi  Company,  2,500,000  acres  of  land,  in  one  or  more  surveys, 
to  be  located  betwees  the  thirty-eighth  and  forty-second  degree  of  north  latitude,  etc. 
etc.  — Plain  Facts.     Phil.  1781,  p.  68. 

Mistakes  in  locating  land  were  often  very  serious  —  the  purchaser  finding  only 
swamp  or  gravel,  when  he  had  purchased  fine  farming  land. — 3Irs.  Clavers's  Western 
Clearings. 

This  is  also  coming  into  use  in  the  old  country,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
following  example : 

The  banks  of  these  rivers  [the  Macquarrie,  etc.  in  New  South  Wales]  are  fast  fill- 
ing with  settlements ;  those  of  the  hunter,  the  nearest  to  the  seat  of  government, 
being,  we  understand,  entirely  located.  —  Edinburgh  Review. 

3.  Applied  to  persons,  it  means : 

a.  To  place  in  a  permanent  residence,  to  settle. 

A  lady  from  Maine,  who  has  been  located  on  the  hill  west  of  us  for  a  week  or  two, 
calls  to  say  she  has  concluded  to  leave  Kansas.  — Mrs,  R^inson's  Kansas,  p.  50. 

b.  To  place  in  a  particular  position. 

The  mate,  having  located  himself  opposite  to  me  [at  the  table],  began  to  expostu- 
late upon  the  mode  of  sea  travelling.  —  Gilliam,  Travels  in  Mexico. 

c.  As  a  technical  term  used  by  the  Methodists,  to  settle  permanently 
as  a  preacher.  The  word  is  needed  by  them,  because  they  have  many 
itinerant  preachers,  who  are  not  located. 

Mr.  Parsons,  like  most  located  and  permanent  pastors  of  a  wooden  country,  re- 
ceived almost  nothing  for  his  services. —  Carlton,  New  Purchase, 

d.  To  take  up  one's  residence  in  a  place,  to  settle. 

The  most  unhealthy  points  are  in  the  vicinity  of  mill-dams,  and  of  marshes,  near 
both  of  which  the  settlers  take  particular  pains  to  locate.  — Hoffman's  Winter  in  the 
West,  Vol.  I. 

From  the  following  extract  it  appears  that  the  word  is  used  with  the 
same  latitude  of  signification  in  Canada  : 

A  man  in  Britain  buys  a  house  or  fann,  and  it  is  said  to  be  in,  or  more  precisely 
situated,  in  such  a  street,  or  district,  or  county.  Here  nobody  or  thing  is  situated 
anywhere,  all  are  located.     Our  farms,  our  houses,  our  congregations,  our  constitu- 


252  LOG 

encies,  all  arc  located.  We  admire  a  mansion  occupying  a  healthy  or  commanding 
site,  and  we  are  told  that  "  the  location  is  good  ;  "  a  clergyman  is  congratulated  on 
his  incumbency,  which  is  styled  a  comfortable  location ;  and  so  on  ad  infinitum.  To 
locate  is  a  purely  technical  term,  belonging  to  land  surveyors  and  their  pi-ofession; 
and  it  is  difficult  to  perceive  any  gain  to  the  language  by  its  application  being  ex- 
tended beyond  its  original  technical  significance.  —  Rev.  A.  C.  Geikie,  in  Canadian 
Journal,  Sept.  1857. 

Location,  m.  That  which  is  located  ;  a  tract  of  land  designated  in  place. 
—  Webster.  This  application  of  the  word  is  peculiar  to  the  United  States. 
In  civil  engineering  it  is  applied  to  railroads. 

Locative  Calls.  Calls  for  the  purpose  of  location.  Those  calls  are  in 
entries  of  lands,  the  object  of  which  is  to  ascertain  and  identify  the  land 
for  the  purpose  of  location.  References  in  enti-ies  and  grants  of  land  to 
certain  particular  physical  objects  (as  trees,  streams,  etc.)  which  exactly 
describe  the  land  to  be  located.  —  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  Wheaton's  He- 
ports,  Yol.  11.  ip.  206,  211. 

Locator.  In  American  land  law ;  one  who  locates  land,  or  intends  or  is 
entitled  to  locate.  —  BarriWs  Law  Dictionary. 

Lock,  Stock,  and  Barrel.  The  whole.  A  figurative  expression  bor- 
rowed from  sportmen,  and  having  reference  to  a  gun. 

Look  at  [this  carriage]  all  through  the  piece  ;  take  it  by  and  large,  loch,  stock,  and 
barrel;  and  it's  the  dandy.  — Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  19. 

Loco-Foco.  1.  A  self-igniting  cigar  or  match.  It  is  remarkable  that  the 
origin  of  this  word  has  never  been  given. 

In  1834,  John  Marck  opened  a  store  in  Park  Row,  New  York,  and 
drew  public  attention  to  two  novelties.  One  was  champagne  wine  drawn 
like  soda  water  from  a  "  fountain ; "  the  other  was  a  self-lighting  cigar, 
with  a  match  composition  on  the  end.  These  he  called  ^^  Loco-foco" 
cigars.  The  mode  of  getting  at  the  name  is  obvious.  The  word  "  loco- 
motive "  was  then  rather  new  as  applied  to  an  engine  on  a  railroad,  and 
the  common  notion  was,  that  it  meant  self -moving  ;  hence  as  these  cigars 
were  self-firing,  this  queer  name  was  coined.  So  Mr.  John  Marck  has 
the  honor  of  inventing  the  name.  His  patent  for  "  self-igniting  cigars  " 
bears  date  April  16,  1834.  This  term  does  not  occur  in  the  notice  of  his 
patent  in  the  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  but  was  used  in  his 
advertisements,  and  can  probably  be  found  in  the  newspapers  of  that 
day. 

The  term  as  applied  to  a  match  is  therefore  an  Americanism ;  but  as 
no  other  kind  of  match  is  now  known,  as  a  distinct  appellation,  it  is  going 
out  of  use.  The  very  use  of  these  matches  is  of  American  origin,  and 
at  an  early  date  the  manufacture  reached  to  an  extent  almost  incredible. 


LOG— LOG  253 

Not  long  after  the  date  of  the  naming  of  the  party,  one  manufacturer 
aloue  had  invested  $100,000  in  making  these  matches  and  boxes. 

2.  The  name  by  which  the  Democratic  party  is  extensively  distinguished 
throughout  the  United  States.  This  name  originated  in  the  year  1835, 
when  a  division  arose  in  the  party,  in  consequence  of  the  nomination  of 
Gideon  Lee  as  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Congress,  by  the  committee 
chosen  for  that  purpose.  This  nomination,  as  was  customary,  had  to  be 
confirmed  at  a  general  meeting  of  Democrats  held  at  Tammany  Hall. 
His  friends  anticipated  opposition,  and  assembled  in  large  numbers  to 
support  him.  "The  first  question  which  arose,"  says  Mr.  Hammond, 
"  and  which  would  test  the  strength  of  the  pai-ties,  was  the  selection  of 
chairman.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Lee,  whom  we  will  caU  Tammany  men, 
supported  Mr.  Varian ;  and  the  anti-monopolists,  Mr.  Curtis.  The  Tam- 
manies entered  the  hall  as  soon  as  the  doors  were  opened,  by  means  of 
back  stairs ;  while  at  the  same  time  the  Equal  Rights  party  rushed  into 
the  long  room  up  the  front  stairs.  Both  parties  were  loud  and  boisterous ; 
the  one  declaring  that  Mr.  Varian  was  chosen  chairman,  and  the  other 
that  Mr.  Curtis  was  duly  elected  the  presiding  oflacer.  A  very  tumultu- 
ous and  confused  scene  ensued,  during  which  the  gas-lights,  with  which 
the  hall  was  illuminated,  were  extinguished.  The  Equal  Rights  party, 
either  having  witnessed  similar  occun-ences,  or  having  received  some  inti- 
mations that  such  would  be  the  course  of  their  opponents,  had  provided 
themselves  with  loco-foco  matches  and  candles,  and  the  room  was  re-lighted 
in  a  moment.  The  '  Courier  and  Enquirer '  newspaper  dubbed  the  anti- 
monopolists,  who  used  the  matches,  with  the  name  of  Loco-foco  ;  which 
was  soon  after  given  to  the  Democratic  party,  and  wliich  they  have  since 
retained."  —  Hammond's  Political  History  of  New  York,  Vol.  H.  p.  491. 

Locust.    A  name  given  in  America  to  several  species  of  Cicada. 

Locust-tree.  (Eobinia  pseudacacia.)  A  tree  much  cultivated  both  for 
ornament  and  for  its  exceedingly  durable  timber. 

Log  Cabin.  A  house  such  as  is  constructed  by  the  early  settlers  with  im- 
hewn  logs,  roughly  notched  together  at  the  comers,  and  the  interstices  filled 
with  clay.    Also  called  Log  Hut  and  Log  House. 

Log  Canoe.     See  Dug-out. 

Logging.  The  business  of  felling  trees  and  preparing  timber  for  trans- 
portation. 

Once  more  at  work,  he  employed  his  leisure  time  in  the  heavy  and  dangerous 
business  of  logging.  —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Western  Clearings. 

Logging  Swamp.    Li  Maine,  the  place  where  pine  timber  is  cut. 

22  - 


254  LOG  — LOG 

To  LoGicizE.     To  reason. 

And  I  give  the  preliminary  view  of  the  reason ;  because,  since  this  is  the  faculty 
which  reasons  or  logicizes,  etc.  —  Tappan's  Elements  of  Logic,  Preface,  p.  5. 

LoG-RoLLiNG.  1.  In  the  lumber  regions  of  Maine  it  is  customary  for  men 
of  different  logging  camps  to  appoint  days  for  helping  each  other  in  roll- 
ing the  logs  to  the  river,  after  they  are  felled  and  trimmed — this  rolling 
being  about  the  hardest  work  incident  to  the  business.  Thus  the  men  of 
three  or  four  camps  will  unite,  say  on  Monday,  to  roll  for  camp  No.  1,  — 
on  Tuesday  for  camp  No.  2, —  on  "Wednesday  for  camp  No.  3,  —  and  so 
on,  through  the  whole  number  of  camps  within  convenient  distance  of 
each  other. 

I  know  how  to  hate  an  Indian  or  love  a  gal  as  well  as  any  one.  I  fell  in  love  with 
three  gals  at  once  at  a  log-rolling ;  and  as  for  tea-squalls,  my  heart  never  shut  pan  a 
minute  at  a  time.  —  Crockett's  Adventures. 

We  were  compelled,  for  electioneering  objects,  to  attend  this  summer  several  log- 
rollings, —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  237. 

2.  The  term  has  been  adopted  in  legislation  to  signify  a  like  system  of 
mutual  cooperation.  For  instance,  a  member  from  St.  Lawrence  has  a 
pet  bill  for  a  plank  road  which  he  wants  pushed  through ;  he  accordingly 
makes  a  bargain  with  a  member  from  Onondaga  who  is  coaxing  along  a 
charter  for  a  bank,  by  which  St.  Lawrence  agrees  to  vote  for  Onondaga's 
bank,  provided  Onondaga  will  vote  in  turn  for  St.  Lawrence's  plank  road. 

This  is  legislative  log-rolling  ;  and  there  is  abundance  of  it  carried  on 
at  Albany  every  winter. 

Generally  speaking,  the  subject  of  the  log-rolling  is  some  merely  local 
project,  interesting  only  to  the  people  of  a  certain  district ;  but  sometimes 
there  is  party  log-rolling,  where  the  Whigs,  for  instance,  will  come  to  an 
understanding  with  the  Democrats,  that  the  former  shall  not  oppose  a  cer- 
tain Democratic  measure  merely  on  party  grounds,  provided  the  Demo- 
crats wiU  be  equally  tender  to  some  "Whig  measure  in  return.  —  J.  In- 
man. 

Another  evil  of  our  banking  system  aiises  from  the  very  foolish  rule,  that  a  single 
director  may  reject  any  paper  offered  for  discount,  instead  of  making  the  fate  of  every 
application  depend  upon  the  decision  of  a  majority  of  the  board.  This  gives  a  power 
to  individuals  at  variance  with  the  interests  of  the  community.  It  produces  what  is 
termed  log-rolling  in  legislation,  and  makes  good  and  liberal-minded  men  responsible 
for  the  conduct  of  individuals  who  look  solely  to  self.  —  N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

Mr.  Davis  has  the  best  prospect  for  speaker,  without  the  fetters  of  a  caucus.  But 
with  such  a  system  of  log-rolling,  the  one  whose  prospects  are  worse,  or  rather  who 
has  no  prospects  at  all,  has  the  best  chance  to  come  out  successful.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Mr.  Ballou  did  not  see  the  object  of  a  postponement.  If  the  delay  was  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  information  for  the  House,  he  had  no  objections  ;  if  log-rolling 
was  the  motive,  ho  opposed  the  postponement. — Providence  Journal. 

If  the  idea  becomes  prevalent  that  the  legislation  of  Congress  is  controlled  by  a 


LOG— LON  255 

system  of  combinations  and  log-rolling,  those  who  can  fabricate  the  most  unjust 
claims  will  be  found  coming  forward  to  crowd  the  halls  of  Congress  and  speculate 
upon  the  public  treasury.  — Washington  Union,  Feb.  10,  1855. 

Logy.  (Dutch,  log.)  Heavy,  slow,  stupid.  We  have  received  this  word 
from  the  Dutch,  and  apply  it  generally  to  men.  He 's  a  logy  man,  i.  e.  a 
slow-moving,  heavy  man.  "  He  is  a  logy  preacher,"  i.  e.  dull.  The 
Dutch  say,  Een  log  verstand,  a  dull  wit. 

LoMA.  (Spanish.)  A  hill  or  ridge  of  hills  with  a  flat  summit.  A  term  in 
general  use  on  the  Mexican  frontier.  The  diminutive  Lomita  is  also 
sometimes  employed. 

Lone  Star.    The  State  of  Texas,  whose  flag  bears  a  single  star. 

Let  us  not  forget  the  Cynosure  of  Independence  [i.  e.  Massachusetts] ;  but  bid 
her  a  kind  farewell  for  her  pilotage  through  the  breakers  of  the  Revolution  —  blot 
her  out  from  the  galaxy  that  encircles  the  Eagle's  crest  —  put  the  Lone  Star  in  its 
place,  etc.  — A  Voice  from  the  South,  p.  53. 

Long  and  Short.  Broker's  terms.  "Long"  means  when  a  man  has 
bought  stock  on  time,  which  he  can  call  for  at  any  day  he  chooses.  He  is 
also  said  to  be  "  long,"  when  he  holds  a  good  deal. 

Short  means  when  a  broker  sells  stocks,  to  be  delivered  at  a  future  day.  If  he 
owns  the  stock  he  sells,  or  agi'ces  to  deliver,  he  is  both  long  and  short  at  the  same 
time.  The  effect  of  one  contract  neutralizes  or  blocks  the  other,  and  in  reality  he  is 
neither  long  nor  short.  If  he  docs  not  own  the  stock  —  which  is  the  case  nine  times 
in  ten  —  he  is  short,  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  a  "  bear  ;  "  and  it  is  for  his  interest 
to  get  the  price  do^vn,  so  as  to  be  able  to  buy  the  stock  to  deliver  at  a  less  price  than 
he  sold.  —  New  York  Day-Book. 

Long  Knives,  or  Big  Knives.  A  term  applied  by  the  North  Amer- 
ican Indians  to  the  white  residents  of  the  United  States.  It  signifies 
wearers  of  swords. 

Long  Moss.  (Tillandsia  usneoides.)  This  parasitic  and  singular  vege- 
tation is  first  seen  in  company  with  the  palmetto,  about  latitude  33°.  It 
hangs  down  in  festoons,  like  the  twiny  stems  of  weeping  willow.  It 
attaches  itself  of  choice  to  the  cypress,  and,  after  that,  to  the  acacia. 
These  pendent  wreaths  often  conceal  the  body  of  the  tree,  when  bare  of 
foliage,  to  such  a  degree,  that  little  is  seen  but  a  mass  of  moss.  "Waving 
in  the  wind,  they  attach  themselves  to  the  branches  of  other  trees,  and 
thus  sometimes  form  curtains  of  moss,  that  darken  the  leafless  forest  of 
winter.  —  Flint,  Mississippi  Valley. 

Long  Sauce.  Beets,  caiTots,  and  parsnips  are  long  sauce.  Potatoes,  tur- 
nips, onions,  pumpkins,  etc.  are  short  sauce.      See  Sauce. 

The  Yankee  farmer  takes  unto  himself  for  a  wife  some  buxom  country  heiress, 
deeply  skilled  in  the  mystery  of  making  apple  sweetmeats,  long  sauce,  and  pumpkin 
pie.  — Irving,  Knickerbocker,  p.  186.- 


256  LON  — LOO 

LONGSHANKS.     See  Lawyer,  No.  1 

Longshoreman,  for  along  shoreman.  A  man  employed  to  load  and  un- 
load vessels,  a  stevedore.     New  York. 

A  meeting  of  the  longshoremen  was  held  last  evening  to  take  into  consideration 
the  diflSculty  between  themselves  and  the  merchants.  —  New  York  Tribune. 

The  strike  among  the  longshoremen,  caulkers,  laborers,  etc.,  has  become  quite 
general,  and  the  work  of  repairing,  loading,  and  unloading  of  vessels  is  almost  sus- 
pended. —  New  York  Express. 

Long  Short.  A  gown  somewhat  shorter  than  a  petticoat,  worn  by  women 
when  doing  household  work. 

Long  Sugar.  Molasses,  so  called  formerly  in  North  Carolina  from  the 
ropiness  of  it,  and  serving  all  the  purposes  of  sugar  both  in  eating  and 
drinking.  —  Byrd,  Westover  Papers,  p.  28. 

Long  Sweetening.     Molasses,  so  called  formerly  in  New  England. 

Long  Tom.  An  apparatus  used  by  the  Californians  for  washing  gold  from 
the  earth  or  gi-avel  in  which  it  is  found.  It  consists  of  a  wooden  trough 
from  twelve  to  twenty-five  feet  long  and  about  a  foot  wide.  At  its  lower 
end  it  widens  and  its  floor  there  is  of  sheet-iron  pierced  with  holes  half  an 
inch  in  diameter,  under  which  is  placed  a  flat  box  a  couple  of  inches  deep. 
The  long  tom  is  set  at  a  slight  inclination  over  the  place  which  is  to  be 
worked,  and  a  stream  of  water  is  kept  running  through  it  by  means  of  a 
hose ;  and  while  some  of  the  party  shovel  the  dirt  into  the  tom,  one  man 
stands  at  the  lower  end  stirring  up  the  earth  as  it  is  washed  down,  and 
separating  the  stones,  Avhile  the  earth  and  small  gravel  fall  through  the 
sieve  into  another  box,  where  it  undergoes  another  process  of  sifting. 

Wlien  the  miners  extricate  themselves  from  the  temples  of  pleasure  [in  the  city], 
they  return  to  their  camps  and  long-toms,  and  soothe  their  racking  head-aches  by  the 
discovery  of  chunks  of  gold.  —  Marryatt,  Mountains  and  Molehills,  p.  236. 

LoOED.  Defeated.  A  term  borrowed  from  the  game  called  loo  ;  as  "  San- 
ta Anna  was  looed  at  San  Jacinto."     Southwest. 

Loon.  (Eolymbus  glaciaUs.)  The  common  name  for  the  Northern  Diver. 
As  straight  as  a  loon's  leg  is  a  common  simile. 

Looseness.  Unrestraint,  freedom.  A  Western  vulgarism,  now  becoming 
common  at  the  East ;  as,  "  He  goes  it  with  a  looseness,"  i.  e.  acts  without 
restraint.     Still  more  vigorous  is  the  expression,  perfect  looseness. 

Ah !  my  Christian  friends,  the  devil  is  amongst  us  going  forward  to  injure  and 
destroy.     He  is  going  it  with  the  looseness  of  an  antediluvian  relax ;  and,  as  Deacon 

B would  say,  we  must  n't  allow  him  to  come  the  Japan  flummux  over  us  much 

longer.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  III.  p.  214. 


LOP  — LUC  257 

The  perfect  looseness,  with  which  books  not  on  the  invoice  were  sold  [at  auction], 
was  illustrated  by  the  sale  of  a  volume  of  Anthon's  series,  which  went  off  in  lots  of 
a  hundred,  etc. — New  York  Express,  Sept.  1855. 

Let  them  go  it  with  a  perfect  looseness,  till  they  burst  their  brittle  strings  of  life's 
corsets,  and  fall  to  pieces  in  the  cold  embrace  of  death.  — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I. 
p.  198. 

Lope.     Common  in  the  West  for  gallop,  from  which  it  is  contracted. 

A  sulky  ox  refuses  to  move  in  the  proper  direction  ;  off  starts  a  rider,  who  catch- 
ing the  stubborn  animal  by  the  tail,  it  at  once  becomes  frightened  into  a  lope ;  advan- 
tage is  taken  of  the  unwieldy  body  by  the  hunter,  as  it  rests  on  the  fore  feet,  to  jerk 
it  to  the  ground.  —  Thorpe's  Backwoods,  p.  15. 

The  mustang  goes  rolUcking  ahead,  with  the  eternal  lope,  such  as  an  amorous  deer 
assumes  when  it  moves  beside  its  half  galloping  mate,  a  mixture  of  two  or  three 
gaits,  as  easy  as  the  motions  of  a  cradle.  —  Ibid,  p.  13. 

Lot.  Li  the  United  States,  a  piece  or  division  of  land;  perhaps  originally 
assigned  by  drawing  lots,  but  now  any  portion,  piece,  or  division.  —  Web- 
ster. This  application  of  the  word  is  peculiar  to  this  country,  and  is  uni- 
versally used  of  a  parcel  of  land,  whether  in  town  or  country.  Thus,  we 
have  city  lots,  town  lots,  house  lots,  meadow  lots,  water  lots,  building  lots, 
etc.  "  I  have  a  fine  lot  of  cleared  land,  with  a  wood  lot  adjoining ; " 
meaning  a  portion  of  the  forest  on  which  the  trees  are  left  for  fuel  as  re- 
quired. "  In  going  to  town,  I  left  the  road,  and  went  across  lots,  to  short- 
en the  distance,"  i.  e.  aci'oss  the  open  fields  or  meadows.  "  Li  the  first 
settlement  of  this  country,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  "  a  certain  portion  or 
share  of  land  was  allotted  to  each  inhabitant  of  the  town ;  and  this  was 
called  his  lot.     Both  lot  and  allotment  occur  in  our  early  laws." 

To  Love,  for  to  like.     "  Do  you  love  pumpkin  pie  ?  "     "I  'd  love  to  have 

Low-BEpA.  The  quacKS  who  use  the  Lobelia  injlata,  or  "/Indian  tobac- 
co," suppose  the  name  to  be  Lowbelia,  and  it  is  so  written  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  a  patent.  The  other  species,  which  towers  high  above  its  humble 
relative,  is  accordingly  dubbed  High-belia. 

Low  Grounds.     Bottom  lands  are  so  called  in  Virginia. 

Lucifer  Match.  Matches  which  ignite  by  friction,  also  called  Loco-foco 
matches.  Both  these  expressions,  however,  are  now  being  supplanted  by 
the  more  appropriate  term,  Friction-maich. 

No  rubbing  will  kindle  yom-  Lucifer  match, 
If  the  fiz  does  not  follow  the  primitive  scratch. 

0.  W.  Holmes'  Poems,  p.  77. 

Lucks.     Small  portions  of  wood  twisted  on  the  finger  of  a  spinner  at  the 

22* 


258  LUD  — LYC 

wheel  or  distaff.    The  same  word  as  lock  when  applied  to  the  hair,  etc.  — 
Forby's  Norfolk  Glossary.     In  New  England  this  word  is  still  in  use. 

Miss  Gisbome's  flannel  is  promised  the  last  of  the  week.     There  is  a  bunch  of 
lucks  down  cellar ;  bring  them  up.  — Margaret,  p.  6. 

LuDD Y  MusSY !     A  corrupt  pronunciation  of  Lord  have  mercy  !  an  excla- 
mation of  surprise,  common  in  the  interior  parts  of  New  England. 
Luddy  mussy !  can  you  read  1     Where  do  you  live  ?  —  Margaret,  p.  52. 

Lugs.     Ground  leaves  of  tobacco  when  prepared  for  market. 

Lumber.  Timber  sawed  or  split  for  use  ;  as  beams,  joists,  boards,  planks, 
staves,  hoops,  and  the  like.  —  Webster.  The  word  in  this  sense,  and  the 
following  ones  derived  from  it,  are  peculiar  to  America. 

Lumberer,  Lumberman.  A  person  employed  in  cutting  timber  and  in 
getting  out  lumber  from  the  forest. 

Lumbering.  1.  The  business  or  occupation  of  getting  out  various  kinds  of 
lumber,  such  as  beams,  boards,  staves,  etc.  " To  go  a  lumbering"  is  the 
phrase  used  by  those  who  embark  in  it. 

2.  Strolling,  lounging,  walking  leisurely.     A  vulgarism  used  in  New 

York. 

As  I  was  lumbering  down  the  street,  down  the  street, 
A  yaller  gal  I  chanc'd  to  meet,  etc. 

Negro  Melodies.     The  Buffalo  Gal. 

Lumber-Wagon.  A  wagon  with  a  plain  box  upon  it,  used  by  farmers  for 
carrying  their  produce  to  market.  It  is  sometimes  so  arranged  that  a 
spring  seat  may  be  put  in  it,  when  it  is  very  comfortable  for  riding  in. 

LuMMOKiNG.  Heavy,  unwieldy,  hulking.  The  word  is  English,  and 
comes  from  lummock,  a  lump,  which,  according  to  "Wright,  is  still  used  in 
Leicestershire. 

These  little  fellows  are  easier  to  carry  by  a  long  chalk  than  them  great  lummokin' 
iackmetacks.  — Slick,  Human  Nature. 

Why,  mother  !  Hannah 's  courted  by  Pete  Spinbutton,  the  ensign  of  the  Dogtown 
Blues,  —  that  great  lummokin'  feller.  —  Traits  of  American  Humor,  Vol.  II. 

Lummox.     A  heavy,  stupid  fellow.     Used  also  in  the  east  of  England. 

Lyceum.  A  house  or  apartment  appropriated  to  instruction  by  lectures  or 
disquisitions.     An  association  of  men  for  literary  purposes.  —  Webster. 

In  New  England  almost  every  town  and  village  of  importance  has  its 
lyceum,  where  a  libraiy  is  formed,  natural  and  artificial  curiosities  collect- 
ed, and  before  which  public  lectures  are  given.  They  have  done  a  vast 
deal  towards  the  dissemination  of  knowledge,  particularly  among  those 
classes  which  have  not  had  the  advantages  of  a  good  education. 


LYN  — MAD  259 

To  Lynch.  To  condemn  and  execute  in  obedience  to  the  decree  of  a  mul- 
titude or  mob,  without  a  legal  trial ;  sometimes  practised  in  the  new  settle- 
ments in  the  south-west  of  the  United  States.  —  Worcester. 

Such  is  too  often  the  administration  of  law  on  the  frontier,  Lynch's  law,  as  it  is 
technically  termed,  in  which  the  plaintiff  is  apt  to  be  witness,  jury,  judge,  and  exe- 
cutioner, and  the  defendant  convicted  and  punished  on  mere  presumption. — Irving, 
Tour  on  the  Prairies,  p.  35. 

People  at  last  [in  1 850]  began  to  talk  among  themselves  of  the  urgent  necessity  of 
again  adopting  Lynch  law,  since  the  tedious  and  uncertain  measures  of  the  author- 
ities did  not  seem  to  have  the  effect  of  teiTifying  and  putting  down  the  disturbers  of 
the  public  peace.  — Annals  of  San  Francisco,  p.  310. 

Ltnch  Law.  An  irregular  and  revengeful  species  of  justice,  administered 
by  the  populace  or  a  mob,  without  any  legal  authority  or  trial.  —  Worcester. 


M. 

Ma'am  School.  A  school  kept  by  a  woman ;  called  in  England  a  "  dame 
school." 

Mr.  Goodrich,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  village  after  many  years' 
absence,  says : 

I  found  a  girl  some  eighteen  years  old  keeping  a  ma'am  school  for  about  twenty 
scholars.  — Reminiscences,  Vol.  I.  p.  39. 

Machine.     The  name  for  a  fire-engine  among  the  New  York  "  b'hoys." 

You  '11  like  'em  [the  engine  men],  they're  perfect  bricks;  and  as  for  the  machine, 
why,  she  's  a  pearl  of  the  East,  none  of  your  old-fashioned  tubs,  but  a  real  tip-top, 
out-and-out  double-decker.  Yes,  sirree,  there  ain't  many  crabs  what  can  take  down 
No.  62  and  her  bully  rooster  crew.  —  Yankee  Notions. 

Mackinaw  Blanket,  or,  simply  Mackinaw.  A  heavy  blanket  origi- 
nally used  in  the  Indian  trade,  the  chief  post  for  which  was  formerly  at 
Mackinac  (pron.  Mackinaw),  and  hence  the  first  material  for  overcoats  in 
the  West.     See  Blanket-Coat. 

Outside  of  the  wagons  the  travellers  spread  their  beds,  which  consist,  for  the  most 
part,  of  buffalo  rugs  and  blankets.  Many  content  themselves  with  a  single  Macki- 
naw ;  but  a  pair  constitutes  the  most  regular  pallet ;  and  he  that  is  provided  with  a 
buffalo-rug  into  the  bargain,  is  deemed  luxuriously  supplied. —  Gregg,  Com.  of  Prai- 
ries, Vol.  I.  p.  62. 

Mad.  Inflamed  with  anger  ;  very  angry ;  vexed.  "  I  was  quite  mad  at 
him  ;  "  "  he  made  me  mad."  In  these  instances  mad  is  only  a  metaphor 
for  angry.  This  is  perhaps  an  English  vulgarism,  but  it  is  not  found  in 
any  accurate  writer,  nor  used  by  any  good  speaker,  unless  when  poets  or 
orators  use  it  as  a  strong  figure,  and,  to  heighten  the  expression,  say, 
"  he  was  mad  with  rage."  —  Witherspoon,  Druid,  No.  5. 


260  MAD  — MAI 

Mad,  in  the  sense  of  angry,  is  considered  as  a  low  word  in  this  coun- 
try, and  at  the  present  day  is  never  used  except  in  very  familiar  conver- 
sation. — Pickering. 

This  use  of  the  word  is  provincial  in  various  parts  of  England.  See 
Halliwell,  Grose,  etc. 

Indeed,  my  dear,  you  make  me  mad  sometimes,  you  do.  —  Spectator. 
The  General  began  to  get  in  a  passion  ;  and  says  he,  "Major,  I'm  gettin'  mad!" 
"Very  well,"  says  I,  "  General,  then  I'll  keep  cool  accordin' to  agreement."  — 
Maj.  Downing's  Letters,  p.  20. 

Up  stairs  I  went  with  them,  as  mad  as  thunder,  I  tell  you,  at  being  thought  a 
humbug. — Field,  Western  Tales. 

Jeeminy,  fellows,  I  was  so  enormous  mad,  that  the  new  silk  handkercher  round 
my  neck  lost  its  color !  — RM,  Squatter  Life. 

Mad  Dog.  Scullcap.  (Scutellaria  lateriflora.)  A  once  much  renowned 
quack  remedy  for  hydx'ophobia,  the  utter  worthlessness  of  wliich  has  long 
since  been  established. 

Madam.  1.  In  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  and  in  some  neighboring  places, 
it  has  been  and  still  is  the  practice,  to  prefix  to  the  name  of  a  deceased 
female  of  some  consideration,  as  the  parson's,  the  deacon's,  or  the  doctor's 
wife,  the  title  of  Madam.  —  Kendall's  Travels,  Vol.  II.  p.  44.  "  This 
practice,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  "  like  that  of  giving  magistrates  the  title 
of  'squire,  prevails  in  most  of  the  country  towns  of  New  England ;  but 
is  scai'cely  known  in  the  seaport  towns."  —  Vocabulary. 

2.  Sir  Chas.  Lyell  says :  The  title  of  Madam  is  sometimes  given 
here  [in  Boston],  and  generally  in  Charleston  and  in  the  South,  to  a 
mother  whose  son  has  married ;  and  the  daughter-in-law  is  then  called 
"  Mrs."  By  this  means  they  avoid  the  inelegant  phraseology  of  "  old  Mrs. 
A.,"  or  the  Scotch  "  Mrs.  A.,  senior."  —  Second  Visit,  Chap.  IX. 

Maguey.  (Agave  americana.)  A  genus  of  American  tropical  plants 
commonly  called  Aloes  or  Century  plants.  They  are  found  in  Texas, 
New  Mexico,  and  California.  The  different  species  furnish  pulque,  sisal 
hemp,  aguardiente,  bagging,  etc. 

Mahogant.  (Swietenia  mahogoni.)  A  beautiful  tree  found  in  South 
America,  Honduras,  and  Southern  Florida,  whose  compact  reddish-brown 
wood,  susceptible  of  a  high  polish,  is  well  known  as  a  material  for  ele- 
gant articles  of  furniture. 

To  Mahoganyize.     To  paint  wood  in  imitation  of  mahogany. 

Maidenland.  Land  that  a  man  gets  with  his  wife,  and  which  he  loses  at 
her  death.     Virginia. 

Mail.     This  word,  which  propei-ly  means  the  bag  in  which  letters  and 


MAI  — MAK  261 

papers  are  carried  from  one  post-office  to  another,  is  often  used  by  us 
instead  of  the  term  "  post."  Thus  we  mail  our  letters,  or  send  them  by 
mail.     The  English  post  them,  or  send  them  by  post. 

Mailable.  That  may  be  mailed  or  carried  in  the  mail.  —  Worcester.  In 
a  suit  brought  by  the  government  against  Adams  &  Co.'s  Express  for 
carrying  letters  and  papers,  to  the  injury  of  the  post-office,  Judge  Betts 
stated  in  his  charge  to  the  jury,  that  "  any  written  communication  be- 
tween one  individual  and  another  comes  within  the  term  mailable  matter ; 
and  no  matter  in  what  shape  it  is  put,  it  is  liable  to  postage  as  if  carried 
by  mail." 

Mail-eider.  One  who  carries  the  mail.  In  England  called  a  post-man 
or  post-boy. 

]Mail  Stage.  The  stage  or  coach  which  carries  the  mail.  In  England 
called  a  "  mail-coach." 

Maize.  (W.  Ind.,  maiz,  mahiz.)  Indian  corn.  The  name  of  the  great 
staple  of  native  American  agriculture,  adopted  from  the  Carib  language 
by  the  Spaniards,  and  thus  imported  into  the  languages  of  Europe.  The 
earliest  dictionary  in  which  I  find  the  word  is  Florio's  "Worlde  of  Wordes 
(1598)  ;  the  article  there  is  "  Maiz,  a  kind  of  grain  or  wheat  whereof 
they  make  bread  in  India."  Its  native  country  is  not  fully  determined, 
although  it  is  believed  to  be  America.  Bernal  Diaz  speaks  of  it  in  Mex- 
ico in  1517;  and  Acosta,  in  1570,  when  treating  of  the  plants  "peculiar 
to  the  Indies,"  says  that  "  the  most  common  gi-ain  found  in  the  new 
world  is  mays,  which  is  found  in  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  "West  Indies, 
Peru,  New  Spain,  Guatemala,  and  Chili."  He  adds,  that  in  Castile  they 
call  it  Indian  wheat ;  and  in  Italy,  Turkey  grain ;  which  seems  to  imply 
that  the  plant  was  also  known  in  those  countries.  The  word  is  never 
used  in  common  language  in  the  United  States.  Indeed  few  would  un- 
derstand it. 

To  Make  Fish.  To  cure  and  prepare  fish  for  commerce.  A  New  Eng- 
land phrase. 

To  Make  one's  Manners.  To  make  a  bow  or  salute,  on  meeting  a  friend 
or  stranger.  The  term  is  applied  only  to  childi'en.  Formerly,  in  New 
England,  the  custom  was  universal  among  juveniles.  Mr.  Goodrich,  in 
his  "  Reminiscences,"  says,  "  a  child  who  did  not  mahe  his  manners  to  a 
stranger  on  the  high-road,  was  deemed  a  low  fellow." — Vol.  I.  p.  128. 

To  Make  one's  Mark.  To  make  an  impression  ;  to  leave  a  lasting  re- 
miniscence of  one's  self;  to  distinguish  one's  self.  It  is  in  all  probability 
an  English  expression. 


262  MAK  — MAN 

The  most  remarkable  men  are  usually  those  who  have  lived  at  some  marked  epoch 
in  the  world,  and  who,  in  Providence,  were  then  called  out  to  make  and  to  leave 
their  mark  upon  the  world.  —  Chalmers. 

Hugh  Miller  is  a  man  of  genius,  and  would  have  made  his  mark  in  whatever  cir- 
cumstances he  had  been  placed.  —  Providence  Journal. 

There  was  a  time  when  Jacob  Barker  made  his  inark  upon  the  stockjobbers  and 
money-changers  of  Wall  Street.  —  Harper's  Magazine,  Sept.  1854. 

The  following  is  the  close  of  some  beautiful  lines  relating  to  Miss 
Nightingale,  taken  from  a  newspaper  :  — 

Among  the  world's  great  women  thou  hast  made  thy  glorious  mark; 
Men  will  hereafter  mention  make  of  thee  with  Joan  of  Arc ; 
And  fathers  who  relate  the  Maid  of  Saragossa's  tale 
Will  tell  their  little  children,  too,  of  Florexce  Nightingale. 

To  Make  Meat,  on  the  great  western  prairies,  consists  in  cutting  into 
thin  slices  the  boneless  parts  of  buffalo  or  other  meat,  and  drying 
them  in  the  wind  or  sun.  Meat  thus  prepared  may  be  preserved  for 
years  without  salt. 


'^^/^<^&u(S. 


A  Raise.     See  Raise. 


To  Make  oneself  Scarce.     To  depart,  decamp,  be  oflF. 

To  Make  Tracks.  To  go  ;  to  run.  A  figurative  expression  of  Western 
origin. 

He  came  plaguey  near  not  seein'  of  me,  says  I ;  for  I  liad  just  commenced  making 
tracks  as  you  came  in.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  20. 

Lieut.  Gilhss,  giving  an  account  of  a  skirmish  at  Coquimbo,  says : 

Some  fifty  were  killed,  a  like  number  fell  wounded  or  were  taken  prisoners,  and 
the  remainder  made  tracks  for  the  city.  —  Gilliss's  Chile,  Vol.  I.  p.  334. 

Mammee  Apple.  (Mammea  americana.)  A  large  round  fruit,  some- 
times the  size  of  a  man's  head.  The  skin  is  of  a  dull  russet  color,  and 
rough.  The  flesh  is  yellow,  and  the  seeds  are  from  one  to  four  large 
ones,  with  a  rough  shell.     "West  Indies. 

Mammy.  The  term  of  endearment  used  by  white  children  to  their  negro 
nurses  and  to  old  family  servants. 

"  How  ith  your  ma,  honey  1 "  questioned  tlie  old  woman,  rubbing  the  biscuit 
dough  from  her  fingers. 

"  Better,  thank  you,  mammy.     She  seems  quite  bright,  to-day." 

The  Hidden  Path. 
Man  Eater.     See  Water  Dog. 

Man  of  the  Earth.     See  Mechoacan. 

Mananosay.     See  Clam,  No.  2. 


MAN  — MAP  263 

Manatee  or  Laiiantin.  An  herbivorous  cetacean,  the  sea-cow.  It  in- 
habits the  mouths  of  the  rivers  opening  on  the  north  and  north-east  of 
South  America  and  the  coast  of  Mexico  ;  it  measures  six  or  seven  feet  in 
length ;  and  its  paddles  exhibit  rudiments  of  nails,  by  the  aid  of  which 
the  animal  sometimes  drags  its  unwieldy  body  on  shore,  and  crawls  up 
the  banks,  either  to  bask  in  the  sun,  or  to  seek  for  terrestrial  vegetables. 
—  Carpenter's  Zoology,  I.  339. 

Mango.  "We  apply  this  name  to  a  green  musk-melon  stuffed  with  horse- 
radish, mustard  seed,  mace,  nutmeg,  ginger,  etc.,  and  then  pickled. 

Mangosteen.  In  Barbadoes  this  name  is  given  to  the  Jujube  {Ziziphm 
jujiibe). 

Manioc,  Manihoc,  IVIanihot.     See  Tapioca. 

Manitou.  (Algonkin  Ind.  manitu  or  manito,  a  spirit,  a  ghost.)  A  spirit, 
god,  or  devil,  of  the  American  Indians. 

The  pride  of  the  Indians  is  to  paint  their  faces  strangely  with  red  or  black  lead ; 
so  that  they  look  like  fiends.  They  are  then  valiant ;  yea,  they  say  they  are  mari' 
ette,  the  devil  himself. — De  Vries'  Voyage  to  America,  1655. 

Every  one  of  the  chiefs  has  his  peculiar  god,  whom  they  call  Manitoa.  It  is  some- 
times a  bird,  a  stone,  a  sequent,  or  any  thing  else  they  dream  of  in  their  sleep ;  for 
they  think  this  Manitoa  will  prosper  their  wants,  as  fishing,  hunting,  and  other  enter- 
prises. — Marquette. 

Praying  for  good,  we  to  Cawtantowit  bow. 
And  shunning  <i\i\,  we  to  Chepian  cry ; 
To  other  Manittoos  we  offerings  owe. 
Dwell  they  in  mountain,  flood,  or  lofty  sky. 

Durfee,  What  Cheer,  Cant.  2. 
As  when  the  evil  Manitou  that  dries 

The  Ohio  woods,  consumes  them  in  his  ire, 
In  vain  the' desolated  panther  flies. 
And  howls  amid  his  wilderness  of  fire. 

Campbell,  Gertrude  of  Wyoming,  xvii. 
As  the  Arapaho  braves  pass  by  the  mysterious  (boiling)  springs,  .  .  .  they  never 
fail  to  bestow  their  votive  offerings  upon  the  water  sprite,  in  order  to  propitiate  the 
Manitou  of  the  fountain,  and  insure  a  fortunate  issue  to  their  path  of  war.  — Rux- 
ton's  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  243. 

When  the  Manitou  made  his  children,  he  gave  them  buffalo  to  eat,  and  the  pure 
water  of  the  fountain  to  quench  their  thirst.  —  Speech  of  an  Indian  Chief,  Ruxton. 

Manor.  In  the  United  States,  a  tract  of  land  occupied  by  tenants  who 
pay  a  fee-farm  rent  to  the  proprietor,  sometimes  in  kind,  and  sometimes 
perform  certain  stipulated  services.  —  BurriWs  Law  Dictionary. 

Maple  Honey.  A  name  in  British  North  America  for  the  uncrystallizable 
portion  of  the  sap  of  the  sugar-maple,  which  is  consumed  in  the  form  of 
molasses. 


264  MAP  — MAR 

Maple  Sugar.  A  sort  of  domestic  sugar  obtained  from  the  Sugar-Maple 
(which  see).  At  the  commencement  of  spring,  in  the  northern  States 
and  Canada,  the  sugar-maple  trees  are  tapped  near  the  ground  by  nume- 
rous apertures,  and  the  sap  is  collected  in  wooden  troughs  ;  two  hundred 
pounds  of  which  afford,  by  evaporation,  fifteen  pounds  of  a  brownish 
sugar,  which  is  capable  of  being  refined  in  the  same  manner  as  the  sugar 
from  the  cane  and  the  beet.  —  Encycl.  Americana. 

Marabou.  The  variety  of  negro  which  springs  from  a  mulatto  and  a 
griffe. 

To  Marble  or  Marvel.  To  move  ofi";  as,  "  If  you  do  that  again,  you 
must  marble"  i.  e.  be  ofi" immediately.  Used  in  Pennsylvania.  —  Hurd's 
Crram.  Corrector. 

The  dandy  run,  and  the  gals  snickered  out,  and  the  fellers  hawhawed  till  they  was 
e'enamost  dead,  to  see  him  marvell  down  the  road.  — Hill's  Yankee  Stories. 

Marblehead  Turkeys.     Codfish.     So  called  in  Massachusetts. 

Market  Truck.     Vegetables  cultivated  for  market.     See  Truck. 

Marji.  a  corruption  of  the  word  mamma,  often  used  in  the  interior  of 
New  England  for  mother. 

Has  your  marm  got  that  done  1  — Margaret,  p.  39. 

Maroon.  The  name  given  to  revolted  negroes  in  the  "West  Indies  and  in 
some  parts  of  South  America.  The  appellation  is  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  Marony,  a  river  separating  Dutch  and  French  Guiana,  where  large 
numbers  of  these  fugitives  resided.  In  many  cases,  by  taking  to  the 
forests  and  mountains,  they  have  rendered  themselves  formidable  to  the 
colonies,  and  sustained  a  long  and  brave"  resistance  against  the  whites. 
When  Jamaica  was  conquered  by  the  English,  in  1 655,  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred slaves  retreated  to  the  mountains,  and  were  called  Maroons.  They 
continued  to  harass  the  island  tUl  the  end  of  the  last  century,  Avhen  they 
were  reduced  by  the  aid  of  blood-hounds. — Encycl.  Americana. 

Marooner.     a  runaway  slave  ;  a  maroon. 

We  were  told  that  on  the  South  Shore  [in  Virginia]  dwelt  a  marooner,  that  mod- 
estly called  himself  a  hermit.  —  Bi/rd,  Westover  Papers,  p.  13. 

Marooning.  To  go  marooning,  is  an  expression  used  in  the  Southern 
States.  It  means,  to  go  on  a  picnic.  The  difference  between  a  maroon- 
ing party  and  a  picnic  is,  that  the  former  is  a  party  made  up  to  pass  sev- 
eral days  on  the  shore  or  in  the  country ;  the  latter  is  a  party  for  a  day. 
The  expression  is  of  course  derived  from  the  preceding  noun. 

Well,  now,  Clayton,  how  considerate  of  them  to  go  off  on  that  marooning  party. 
Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  L  p.  20. 


MAR  — MAY  265 

Marshal.  The  ministerial  officer  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  with 
duties  similar  to  those  of  sheriff  in  the  State  courts.  — Kent's  Commenta- 
ries, Vol.  I.  p.  309. 

Marvel.  A  mispronunciation  of  marble,  common  in  the  mouths  of  illiter- 
ate people. 

To  Marvel.     See  To  Marble. 

Maryland  End.  Said  of  the  hock  of  the  ham.  The  other  is  the  Vir- 
ginia end.     Maryland  and  Virginia. 

Mash.     A  vulgar  corruption  of  the  word  "  marsh,"  also  heard  in  England. 

To  Mash.  In  machinery,  one  wheel  is  said  to  mash  into  or  with  another, 
i.  e.  to  "  engage "  with  it.  This  is,  apparently,  a  corruption  from  mesh, 
which  is  sometimes  used  in  the  same  sense. 

Maskinonge  or  Muskelunge.  (Algonkin  Ind.)  An  immense  fish  of 
the  pike  species  {Esox  estor),  caught  in  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  great 
lakes.  I  have  seen  a  specimen  taken  at  Kingston  upwards  of  four  feet 
in  length.  Dr.  Richardson,  in  his  "  Fauna  Borealis  Americana,"  says 
that  he  found  none  in  the  rivers  which  empty  into  Hudson's  Bay  or  the 
Polar  Sea. 

The  masquinonj^  is  to  all  appearance  a  large  species  of  pike,  and  possesses  the 
ravenous  propensities  of  that  fish. — Backwoods  of  Canada,  p.  161. 

I  was  bom  on  the  sea-shore  in  the  Bay  State,  and  here  I  am  up  among  the  fresh- 
water lakes,  as  much  naturalized  as  any  muskelunge  that  was  ever  caught  in  Lake 
Huron. —  Cooper,  The  Oak  Openings. 

Mass  Meeting.  A  large  or  general  meeting  called  for  some  specific  pur- 
pose. The  word  mass  is  prefixed  with  a  sort  of  ad  captandum  intent,  as 
O'Connell  called  his  large  meetings  of  Irishmen,  "monster  meetings." 
Mass  meetings  were  first  talked  of  in  the  political  campaign  of  1840, 
when  Harrison  was  elected  president.  The  term  is  now  applied  to  any 
large  meeting  without  distinction  of  party. 

Mate  or  Match.  Used  sometimes  instead  of  "  fellow,"  in  such  expres- 
sions as,  "  I  can 't  find  the  mate  (or  match)  to  this  shoe." 

Mat-Apple.  A  name  applied  to  the  remarkable  excrescence  caused  appar- 
ently by  the  puncture  of  insects,  on  the  immature  flowers  of  the  Swamp 
Honeysuckle  (^Azalea  nudijlora).  This  grows  to  a  great  size,  as  large 
as  an  ordinary  apple,  is  of  a  very  irregular  form,  covered  with  a  fine 
bloom,  and  is  even  eaten.  Its  irregular  form  and  want  of  seeds  should 
indicate  that  it  is  no  fruit,  apart  from  the  fact  that  it  is  found  before  the 
23 


266  MAY  — MED 

flowers  expand.     It  is  nevertheless  considered  as  the  fruit  of  the  plant. 
The  term  is  also  applied  to  the  Swamp  Honeysuckle  itself. 

May-Bird.     See  Bobolink. 

Mat-Pop.    A  Southern  name  for  the  Passion  Flower. 

Meadow.  In  the  United  States  often  applied  to  mowing  lands  which  are 
marshy  or  too  wet  to  be  ploughed,  and  producing  a  coarse  kind  of  hay, 
which  is  called  "  meadow  hay,"  in  distinction  from  that  which  grows  on 
uplands,  which  is  called  "  English  hay."  —  Worcester. 

Meadow  Bird.     See  Boholinh. 

Meadow  Hat.    See  Meadow. 

Mean,  for  Means.  Many  American  writers,  following  Scottish  models, 
make  use  of  mean  instead  of  means  in  the  singular.  But  the  established 
practice  among  English  writers,  from  the  time  of  Addison  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  has  been  to  use  means  for  both  numbers. 

It  was  the  best  mean  of  bringing  the  negotiation  to  a  happy  issue.  —  Marshall's 
Washington,  Vol.  V.  p.  546. 

Mean.  Poor,  bad,  worthless ;  as,  "  A  mean  pair  of  shoes ; "  "a  mean 
htx&e  ',"  "  a  mean  fellow." 

Me  'II  cut  the  same  capers  there  as  here.     He 's  a  monstrous  mean  horse.  -^  Geor- 
gia Scenes,  p.  27. 

Mean  Whites.     See  Poor  White  Folks. 

Meat  Axe.     A  cleaver. 

Meat  Biscuit.  The  concentrated  juice  of  beef,  mixed  with  flour  and 
baked.     It  is  chiefly  used  to  make  soup  for  travellers,  soldiers,  etc. 

Mechoacan.  {Convolvulus  panduratus.)  A  plant  growing  in  sandy 
fields  and  on  dry  banks  from  Connecticut  to  Illinois  and  southwards. 
The, large  root  is  also  used  for  medical  purposes.  It  is  also  called  Man  of 
the  Earth,  and  Wild  Potato  Vine. 

Medicine.  This  word  is  used  in  translating  certain  terms  in  the  languages 
of  the  American  aborigines  which  denote  not  only  "  medicine  "  proper,  but 
any  thing  the  operation  of  which  they  do  not  comprehend,  that  is,  any 
thing  mysterious,  supernatural,  sacred.  Hence  we  have  the  terms  medi- 
cine man,  the  doctor  and  conjurer,  or  shaman,  of  the  Indians ;  medicine 
hag,  the  bag  in  which  his  remedies  and  charms  are  contained ;  medicine 
feast,  a  sort  of  religious  festival,  consisting  of  feasting,  singing,  dancing, 
etc.,  attended  by  males  only  ;  medicine  hut,  the  hut  in  which  these  feasts 
are  held ;  medicine  pipe,  the  ornamented  pipe  smoked  on  these  occasions. 


MED  — MEN  267 

Medium.  A  person  who  professes  to  be  a  medium  of  communication  be- 
tween mortals  and  disembodied  spirits.  There  are  rapping,  tipping, 
healing,  speaking,  writing,  and  trance  mediums. 

Meeching  or  IMiching.  Skulking.  This  old  Shaksperian  word  is  still 
occasionally  heard  in  New  York  and  New  England. 

O  brethren !  I  warn  you  not  to  make  too  sure  of  success,  for  you  may  be  disap- 
pointed. When  you  fall  short  of  the  object  for  which  you  jump,  you  go  meechin  oflfj 
like  a  cat  that  has  missed  her  mouse.  —  Doiv's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  203. 

Meeting.  A  religious  assembly,  congregation.  Among  Methodists,  Bap- 
tists, and  Quakers,  it  is  usual  to  say,  "  we  are  going  to  meeting"  when 
speaking  of  going  to  their  church  or  place  of  worship. 

Meeting-House.  a  place  of  worship  of  Methodists,  Quakers,  etc.  The 
following  passage  in  Elliott's  recent  History  of  New  England,  seems  to 
show  that  the  term  originated  with  the  Puritans  :  "  The  religious  services 
of  the  Plymouth  church  were  held  in  the  fort,  upon  the  roof  or  deck  of 
which  were  mounted  the  great  guns ;  and  it  was  in  1648  that  a  ^meeting- 
house '  was  built.  They  held  that  a  church  was  a  body  of  Christians, 
and  the  place  where  they  met  was  a  '  meeting-house ; '  and  so  they 
called  it  by  that  name."  —  Vol.  I.  p.  131. 

To  Meet  up  with.     To  catch  up  with ;  to  overtake.     Georgia. 

Mel  ox  Fruit.  (Carica  papayo.)  The  West  India  Papaw;  called  also 
Tree-Melon. 

Memouandum  Check.  A  check  intended  not  to  be  presented  immediately 
for  payment ;  such  an  understanding  being  denoted  by  the  word  "  mem." 
written  on  it.  It  has  been  held  that  the  making  of  a  check  in  this  way 
does  not  affect  its  negotiability,  or  the  right  of  the  holder  to  present  it  to 
the  bank  and  demand  payment  immediately.  —  Paige's  Reports,  Vol.  11. 
p.  612. 

Menhaden.     (Alosa  tnenhaden.)     A  fish  of  the  herring  kind,  abounding 

in  the  waters  of  New  England,  and  as  far  south  as  Chesapeake  Bay.     It 

is  also  known  by  the  names  of  Bony-fish,  White-fish,  Hardhead,  Moss- 

bonker,  and  Pauhagen.     In  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  they  are 

called  Menhaden ;  in  New  York,  Mossbonkers  and  Skippaugs.     They 

are  caught  in  immense  quantities,  and  used  as  manure,  chiefly  for  Indian 

com.     Dr.  DeKny,  in  his  report  on  the  fishes  of  New  York,  states  that 

he  has  known  of  an  instance  when  "  eighty-four  wagon-loads,  or,  in  other 

words,  1 68,000  of  these  fish  were  taken  at  a  single  haul "  of  the  seine. 

These  voracious  fellows  [the  blue-fish]  get  into  a  school  of  menhaden,  which  are  too 

large  to  swallow  whole,  and  they  bite  them  to  pieces  to  suit  their  tastes.  —  Daniel 

Webster,  Private  Cor.,  Vol.  II.  p.  333. 


268  MER  — MES 

To  Merchandise.  In  the  West  they  say  a  man  is  merchandizing  who 
is  in  trade,  keeping  a  store,  selling  goods,  etc. 

Merchant.  A  term  often  applied  in  the  United  States  to  any  dealer  in 
merchandise,  whether  at  wholesale  or  retail ;  and  hence  sometimes 
equivalent  to  "  shopkeeper." 

Mercy  sakes  alive  !  A  common  exclamation  of  surprise,  especially 
with  old  women,  who  would  probably  find  some  difficulty  in  parsing  it. 

Massy  sokes  alive,  John  !  where  have  you  been  all  the  morning  1  What !  a  lady 
drownded  1  Lord-a-massy  !  What !  and  a  dear  drownded  baby  too !  O,  dear !  — 
Brooke,  Eastford,  p.  60. 

Mesa.  (Span.,  table.)  Throughout  the  whole  region  bordering  on  Mex- 
ico, this  Spanish  word  is  used  for  a  high  plain  or  table-land. 

All  the  so-called  mesa  formations  and  jornadas  of  this  district  belong  to  a  dis- 
tinct system  of  basin  deposits,  tertiary  or  post-tertiary  in  age The  mesa,  or 

table-land  character,  is  exhibited  only  along  the  line  of  river  valleys,  as  liigh  bluffs, 
the  result  of  denuding  forces,  subsequent  to  the  original  basin  depositions.  — Reports 
on  the  Pacijk  Railroad,  Vol.  I.  p.  84. 

The  travelUng  upon  the  mesas  was  hard  and  finn,  whilst  that  in  the  bottom  waa 
generally  heavy.  — Lieut.  Park's  Report,  Pacijic  Railroad  Survey,  Vol.  II. 

Westward  sweeps  the  wide  valley  of  the  river,  and  at  a  distance  of  a  league  is 
seen  the  peublo  of  Zuni.  Towards  the  South  a  lofty  mesa  with  precipitous  cliffs. . . . 
Scrub  cedars  and  pinons  upon  the  mesa  slopes  have  furnished  fuel.  —  Capt.  Whip' 
pie's  Explorations,  R.  R.  Survey,  p.  66. 

Mesilla.     (Span.  dim.  of  mesa.)     A  small  table-land. 

Mesquit  or  Muskeet.  (Span,  mezquite.  Algarohia  glandulosa.)  An 
important  tree  of  the  Locust  family,  found  in  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Cali- 
fornia, etc.  It  bears  a  long  and  narrow  pod,  filled  with  beans,  which  are 
eagerly  eaten  by  horses  and  cattle.  It  is  also  valuable  for  fuel.  On  the 
arid  plains  it  is  reduced  to  a  mere  shrub,  when  its  roots  greatly  expand, 
and  are  much  sought  for  firewood.  The  Pima  Indians  on  the  Gila 
grind  the  mesquit  beans,  and  mix  the  flour  with  that  of  wheat,  which  adds 
much  to  its  sweetness. 

Mesquit  Grass.  (Stipa  spata.)  A  fine,  short  grass,  called  also  Lewis 
Grass,  which  grows  with  great  vigor  and  beauty  on  the  western  prairies. 
It  is  usually  found  in  very  thick  tufts  and  patches,  interspersed  with  other 
grasses.  It  is  very  nutritious  and  palatable  to  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep ; 
and  has  the  great  advantage  of  preserving  its  sweetness,  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, through  the  winter.  A  gum  exudes  from  this  tree  which  is  said  to 
be  equal  to  gum  arable. 

The  mesquit  grass  gives  the  praii-ies  of  Western  Texas  their  great  superiority  as  a 


MES  — MID  269 

pasture  ground,  and  mark  it  as  forever  a  pastoral  country,  whatever  in  other  respects 
be  its  future.  —  Olmsted's  Texas,  p.  136. 

Message.  In  the  United  States,  an  address  or  communication  of  a  presi- 
dent or  a  governor,  on  public  affairs,  to  the  legislature. —  Worcester. 
Thus  we  have  the  President's  Inaugural  Message,  Annual  Message,  Veto 
Message,  etc. 

Mestee.     In  the  West  Indies,  the  child  of  a  white  person  and  a  quadroon. 

Metaphenomena.  The  primordial  facts  of  our  being,  which,  although 
known  by  necessity  of  reason  to  exist,  are  not  the  immediate  objects  of 
consciousness.  —  Tappan. 

Metaphenomenal.     Relating  to  mefaphenomena. 

The  immediate  objects  of  our  consciousness  are  phenomena,  and  these  only  are 
phenomenal ;  while  those  objects  which,  by  supposition,  lie  beyond  immediate  cou- 
Bcionsness,  are  metaphenominal. —  Tappan's  Elements  of  Logic,  p.  12. 

Metate.  (Mex.  metatl.)  A  hollowed,  oblong  stone,  in  the  form  of  an 
inclined  plane,  used  by  the  Mexicans  (both  Indians  and  whites),  for 
grinding  Indian  corn  or  wheat  for  tortillas,  or  cocoa  for  chocolate. 

For  miles  around  the  Casas  Grandes  [on  the  Gila]  the  plain  is  strewed  with  bro- 
ken potteiy  and  metates,  or  com-grindcrs.  —  Bartlett's  New  Mexico. 

A  woman  was  kneeling  upon  the  ground,  under  a  fig-tree,  rubbing  the  metate,  and 
a  pretty  girl  of  fifteen  was  slapping  a  tortiUa  between  her  hands.  —  Olmsted's  Texas, 
p.  349. 

Witliin  the  last  two  days  we  have  seen  but  slight  traces  of  Indians.  Upon  the 
banks  of  streams  we  occasionally  come  across  a  metate.  Some  appear  to  have  been 
recently  used.  —  Capt.  Whi])ple's  Explorations  to  the  Pacific,  p.  96. 

Metif.     The  offspring  of  a  white  person  and  a  quateron  or  quadroon. 

Middlings.  1.  A  coarse  flour  intermediate  between  the  fine  flour  and  the 
inferior  quality ;  hardly  known  now,  when  the  inferior  flour  is  called 
"  superfine." 

2.  A  term  used  in  the  "West  for  pork,  meaning  the  portion  of  the 
animal  between  the  hams  and  shoulders.  Thus  the  Price  Current  quotes 
hams,  shoulders,  and  middlings. 

Middling  well,  is  a  common  expression  for  tolerably  well.  "  How  are 
you,  to-day  ?  "  "  Wall,  I  'm  pretty  middling  jest  so  as  to  be  knockin' 
around."  According  to  Brockett,  it  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in  the  north 
of  England. 

Then  it  was,  "  Mr.  Sawin,  su",  you  're  middlin'  well,  now,  be  ye  ?  Step  up  au' 
take  a  nipper,  sir ;  I  'm  dreffcl  glad  to  see  ye."  —  Biglow  Papers. 

23* 


270  MID  — MIL 

Middling  Interest.    The  middle  class  of  people. 

Men  of  the  middling  interest  class  are  now  the  best  oS".  Men  who  have  done  a 
safe  and  small  business  are  now  the  richest.  .  .  .  They  have  felt  they  belonged  to  the 
middling  interest,  and  have  resolved  to  stay  there,  and  not  cope  with  the  rich.  —  Con- 
necticut Courant. 

There  is  a  bank  in  Boston  called  the  Bank  of  the  "  Middle  Interest." 
Midget.     The  sand-fly ;  so  called  in  Canada. 

Mighty.  Exceedingly,  very.  Colloquial  in  England  and  the  United 
States,  particularly  at  the  South  and  West. 

To  the  king's  house  ;  Knipp  took  us  in,  and  brought  us  to  Nelly  [Gwynn],  a  most 
pretty  woman.  I  kissed  her,  and  so  did  my  wife  ;  and  a  mighty  pretty  soul  she  is. 
—  Pepys's  Diary,  Vol.  II.  p.  8. 

She  untied  her  hair,  then  began  to  twirl  the  ringlets  round  her  fingers  and  play  -with 
them  in  a  coquettish  manner,  wliich  she  seemed  to  think  mighty  killing,  for  she 
smiled  in  evident  self-conceit.  —  London  Zoist. 

The  Doctor's  was  a  mighty  fine  house,  fronting  the  sea.  —  Dickens,  Dombey  and 
Son,  ch.  XI. 

His  face  is  mighty  little  for  his  body.  —  Georgia  Scenes,  p.  184. 

What  mighty  hard  land  it  is  on  this  road.  The  whole  face  of  the  earth  is  covered 
■with  stones,  as  thick  as  Kentucky  land  titles.  —  Crockett,  Tour  Down  East,  p.  57. 

You  '11  be  mighty  apt  to  get  wet,  said  a  thorough-bred  Texan,  who  stood  watching 
our  movements.  —  Kendall's  Santa  Fe  Expedition,  Vol.  I.  p.  32. 

A  girl  belonging  to  the  hotel  was  shouting  to  the  boys,  who  had  been  despatched 
to  tlie  barn  for  eggs,  to  "  quit  suckin'  them  thar  eggs,  or  the  candidates  would  stand 
a  mighty  small  chance  for  thar  dinner."  —  Robh,  Squatter  Life,  p.  80. 

Mile.  Often  in  the  singular  with  a  numeral,  instead  of  the  plural  miles. 
Mr.  Hartshorne,  in  his  Glossary,  says  its  use  is  universal  in  England, 
where  the  vulgar  never  give  it  a  plural.  "  The  custom,"  he  adds,  "  seems 
to  receive  countenance  from  some  of  our  early  English  poets."  —  Salopia 
Aniiqiia. 

Start  the  horses  together  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  mile.  —  Georgia  Scenes. 

Mileage  is  a  very  large  and  even  extravagant  allowance  made  to  mem- 
bers of  congress,  and  some  others  of  the  favored,  for  travelling  expenses, 
eight  dollars  for  every  twenty  miles. 

(constructive  Mileage  is  the  same  allowance  for  supposititious  journeys  from 
and  to  the  seat  of  government.  The  allowance  enures  to  member's  of  the 
United  States  senate  once  in  every  four  years.  When  a  new  president 
comes  into  office,  congress  adjourns,  of  course,  on  the  3d  of  March,  the 
new  president  being  inaugurated  on  the  4th.  But  the  senate  is  imme- 
diately called  again  into  session,  to  act  on  the  nominations  of  the  new 
president;  and  though  not  a  man  of  them  leaves  Washington,  each  is 
supposed  to  go  home  and  come  back  again,  in  the  course  of  the  ten  or 


MIL  — MIL  271 

twelve  hours  intervening  between  the  adjournment  and  the  reassembling. 
For  this  imaginary  journey  the  senators  are  allowed  their  mileage ;  the 
sum  being,  in  the  case  of  senators  from  distant  States,  from  $1,000  to 
$1,500. 

Many  of  the  senators,  in  1845,  when  Mr.  Polk  was  inaugurated,  re- 
fused to  pocket  their  constructive  mileage,  holding  it  to  be  an  imposition 
on  the  pubhc. 

Constructive  mileage  is  allowed  when  an  extra  session  of  Congress  is 
called,  whether  the  senators  and  members  have  actually  gone  to  their 
homes  or  not,  after  the  regular  session.  —  J.  Inman. 

The  mileage  is  a  still  less  excusable  abomination.  Texas  sends  hither  two  senar 
tors  and  two  representatives,  who  receive,  in  addition  to  their  pay,  some  $2,500 
each  every  session  for  merely  coming  here  and  going  away  again  (I  would  sooner 
pay  them  twice  the  money  to  stay  away) — $10,000  in  all  for  travelling  expenses, 
which  are  not  actually  $1,000.  Arkansas  will  take  $6,000  out  of  the  treasury,  this 
year,  merely  for  the  travel  of  lier  senators.  When  we  come  to  have  senators  and 
representatives  from  Oregon  and  California,  we  shall  have  to  negotiate  a  loan  ex- 
pressly to  pay  the  mileage  of  their  members.  —  Letter  from  H.  Greeley,  N.  Y.  Tribune, 
May  2,  1848. 

Military  Lands.     Lands  granted  to  soldiers  for  military  services. 

Milk  Sickness.  A  fatal  spasmodic  disease,  peculiar  to  the  Western 
States ;  now  said  to  be  owing  to  astringent  salts  contained  in  the  soil  and 
waters  of  these  regions  (see  Owen's  Geology  of  Kentucky).  It  first 
attacks  the  cattle,  and  then  those  who  eat  beef  or  drink  milk. 

A  few  miles  below  Alton,  on  the  Mississippi,  I  passed  a  deserted  village,  the 
whole  population  of  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  milk  sickness.  —  Hoffman, 
Winter  in  the  West,  Let.  2. 

Mill.  1.  An  expression  commonly  applied  to  one  who  has  experience  of 
the  world,  is,  "He  has  been  through  the  mill;"  a  phrase  equivalent  to 
"  He  has  seen  the  elephant." 

2.  An  imaginary  American  coin,  the  thousandth  part  of  a  doUar  or 
tenth  part  of  a  cent. 

Miller.  To  drown  the  miller  is  to  put  too  much  water  to  the  flour  in 
making  bread.  It  is,  doubtless,  an  Enghsh  expression.  At  all  events, 
Wright  says,  that  putting  the  miller's  eye  out,  is  a  phrase  used  when  too 
much  liquid  is  put  to  any  dry  or  powdery  substance. 

Millerism.     The  doctrines  taught  by  the  followers  of  WiUiam  Miller. 

When  Millerism  was  makin'  such  a  noise,  the  Wiggletown  folks  raly  thought  ther 

was  something  in  it.     Old  Miss  G gave  up  all  business,  and  didn't  do  nothin' 

but  traipse  round  from  house  to  house  a  takin'  on  about  the  eend  of  the  world.  — 
Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  123. 


272  MIL  — MIN 

MiLLERiTES.     The  name  of  a  religious  sect,  from  its  founder,  William  Mil- 
ler. 

The  distinguishing  doctrines  of  this  sect  are,  a  behef  in  the  reappear- 
ance of  Jesus  Christ  on  earth,  "  with  all  his  saints  and  angels ;  that  he 
will  raise  the  dead  bodies  of  all  his  saints,  and  change  the  bodies  of  all 
that  are  ahve  on  the  earth  that  are  his  ;  and  that  both  these  living  and  raised 
saints  will  be  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air.  There  the  saints 
will  be  judged.  While  this  is  being  done  in  the  air,  the  earth  will  be 
cleansed  by  fire  ;  the  bodies  of  the  wicked  will  be  burned  ;  the  devil  and 
evil  spirits  will  be  banished  from  the  earth,  shut  up  in  a  pit,  and  will  not 
be  permitted  to  visit  the  earth  again  until  a  thousand  years.  This  is  the 
first  resurrection  and  first  judgment.  Then  Christ  and  his  people  will 
come  down  from  the  heavens,  and  live  with  his  saints  on  the  new  earth." 
After  a  thousand  years,  a  second  death,  resurrection,  and  judgment 
take  place ;  when  the  righteous  will  possess  the  earth  for  evei".  "  The 
judgment  day  will  be  a  thousand  years  in  duration.  The  righteous  wiU 
be  raised  and  judged  in  the  commencement,  the  wicked  at  the  end  of 
that  day.  The  millennium  is  between  the  two  resurrections  and  the  two 
judgments."  —  Evans's  Hist.  Religions. 

Believing  in  the  literal  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies,  the  Millerites  first 
asserted  that,  according  to  their  calculations,  the  first  judgment  would 
take  place  about  the  year  1843.  Subsequently  other  periods  were 
named ;  and  so  firm  was  the  faith  of  many  that  the  Saviour  would  de- 
scend from  the  heavens  and  take  his  followers  up  into  the  air,  that  they 
disposed  of  all  their  worldly  treasures,  provided  themselves  with  "  ascen- 
sion robes,"  and  waited  with  great  anxiety  for  the  sounding  of  the  last 
trumpet,  the  signal  for  their  aerial  voyage.  Many  persons  became  insane 
in  consequence  of  the  excitement  and  fear  attending  this  delusion. 
Others  have  come  to  their  senses,  owing  to  then*  repeated  disappointments 
in  not  being  elevated  according  to  Father  Miller's  promise ;  and  at  the 
present  time  the  sect  has  haj)pily  dwindled  down  to  an  insignificant  num- 
ber. 

At  the  Frauconia  hotel  I  first  heard  of  the  recent  fanatical  movement  of  the  Mil- 
lerites, or  followers  of  one  Miller,  who  taught  that  the  millennium,  or  final  destruction 
of  the  world,  would  come  to  pass  last  year,  or  on  the  23d  day  of  October,  1844.  — 
LyeU's  Second  Visit,  Chap.  V. 

Million.     A  vulgar  corruption  of  the  word  melon  ;  as,  "  •water-millions," 
water-melons  ;  "  mnsh-millions,"  musk-melons. 

To  Mind.     1.  To  recollect ;  remember.     A  common  phrase  at  the  South 
is,  "  I  mind  me,"  for  "  I  remember."     It  is  also  used  in  Scotland. 

I  was  invited  to  dine  out  in  Boston ;  but  if  I  can  mitid  the  gentleman's  name,  I 
wish  I  may  be  shot,  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  82. 


MIN  — MIS  273 

I  mind  once,  a  good  many  years  ago,  Cross  and  I  was  over  to  St.  Eegis,  on  a 
cruise  after  martin  and  sable.  —  Ilammond,  Wild  Northern  Scenes,  p.  331. 

2.  To  watch,  take  care  of.    An  English  use  of  the  word,  although  not 
in  the  dictionaries. 

As  soon  as  girls  are  old  enough  to  be  turned  to  any  account,  they  are  sent  out  to 
mind  the  baby.  This  minding  the  baby  is,  in  reality,  sauntering  about  the  streets, 
and  sitting  down  on  door-steps,  and  gossiping  mth  other  baby-minders.  —  North  Brit- 
ish Review,  May,  1856. 

Yes,  said  Margaret,  I  will  keep  Obed.  I  '11  mind  the  beds  when  the  birds  are 
about.  — Margaret,  p.  20. 

Minister.     See  Catfish. 

Mink.  {Putonus  vison.)  A  quadruped  of  the  weasel  kind,  that  burrows 
in  the  earth  near  water.  It  is  generally  to  be  found  on  the  banks  of 
streams,  especially  near  farm-houses  and  miUs.  It  swims  and  dives  well, 
and  can  remain  under  water  for  a  considerable  time.  It  preys  upon 
smaU  fish,  muscles,  etc.,  but  also  commits  depredations  on  the  poultry 
yard,  and  will  devour  rats,  mice,  etc. 

Mint-Julep.  A  drink  made  of  brandy  and  sugar,  flavored  with  mint,  to 
which  pounded  ice  is  added.     See  Julep. 

Maryland,  anciently  written  Merryland ;  so  called  because  the  inhabitants,  not 
having  the  fear  of  the  Lord  before  their  eyes,  were  prone  to  make  merry  and  get 
fuddled  with  mint-juleps  and  apple-toddy.  —  W.  Irving,  Knickerbocker. 

Mingo.  (Creek  Ind.)  A  native  king  among  the  Creeks,  Choctaws, 
etc. 

Misery.  Pain ;  as,  "  They  say  John  Soaker  never  gets  drunk ;  but  he 
often  has  a  misery  in  his  head."     Southern. 

Miss.  Often  used  instead  of  "  Mrs.,"  by  uneducated  people,  in  addressing  or 
speaking  of  married  women,  especially  in  the  "West. 

Miss-LiCK.  When  an  axe  or  knife  cuts  out  of  line,  it  is  called  in  the  "West 
a  miss-lick. 

Missing.     To  be  among  the  missing,  is  to  be  absent,  to  leave,  to  run  away. 

There  comes  old  David  for  my  militia  fine.  I  don't  want  to  see  him,  and  think 
I  will  be  among  the  missing.  —  Sketches  of  New  York. 

To  MissiONATE.  To  act  as  a  missionary.  Not  well  authorized. —  Web- 
ster. 

Mr.  Pickering  notices  this  absurd  word,  which  he  found  in  the  Mis- 
sionary Herald. 

Mistake.     The  phi-ase,  " and  no  mistake"  is  used  as  an   equivalent  for 


274  MIT  — MO  C 

certainly,  positively ;  as,  "I  will  soon  pay  you  a  visit,  and  no  mistake." 
It  is  now  being  replaced  by  sure. 

Mitten.  When  a  gentleman  is  jilted  by  a  lady,  or  is  discarded  by  one  to 
whom  be  has  been  paying  his  addresses,  he  is  said  to  have  got  the  mitten. 

Young  gentlemen  that  have  got  the  mitten,  or  young  gentlemen  who  think  they  are 
going  to  get  the  mitten,  always  sigh.    It  makes  them  feel  had.  —  NeaVs  Sketches. 

There  is  a  young  lady  I  have  set  my  heart  on  ;  though  Avhether  she  is  a-goin  to 
give  me  hem,  or  give  me  the  mitten,  I  ain't  quite  satisfied.  But  I  rather  kinder  sorter 
guess  so,  than  kinder  sorter  not  so.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  90. 

Mitts.  Ladies'  gloves,  without  fingei's.  Used  in  the  same  sense  in  Eng- 
land. 

Mixed  up.     Confused,  promiscuous. 

Ses  I,  "  Grentlemen,  you  hear  this  critter  compar  me,  a  free  Amarakin,  to  his 
darned  heathen  dumb  brute  of  Afriky."  And  with  that  I  fetched  the  monkey  a 
sling  that  sent  him  a  whirlin'  about  sixty-five  yards,  over  a  brick  wall ;  and  the  next 
iniait  the  Dutchman  and  his  boy  was  the  most  mixed  up  pile  of  rags  and  splinters 
you  ever  seen  in  one  mud  hole.  —  Widow  Bagh/s  Huslxind. 

To  Mizzle.  To  run  away ;  to  abscond.  A  low  word,  also  used  in  Eng- 
land. 

Mr.  Buchanan  was  in  the  senate  chamber  when  the  tariff  was  under  discus- 
sion ;  but  as  soon  as  Mr.  Bagby  commenced  speaking  of  the  "  odious  law  of  1842," 
the  Secretary  of  State  mizzled.  — Cor.  of  N,  Y,  Herald. 

A  broker,  named  II.  H.  D.,  operated,  in  a  financial  way,  day  before  yesterday,  to 
the  amount  of  $3,000,  and  then  mizzled.  — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

The  Southern  men  will  spend  their  last  cent  here ;  while  the  Northern  men,  if 
they  had  won,  would  have  buttoned  up  their  pockets  and  mizzled.  — N.  Y.  Herald, 
May  14,  1845. 

In  reply  to  a  letter  from  a  lawyer,  demanding  payment  of  an  account, 
the  debtor  declared  that  he  had  nothing,  and  continues  : 

Whatever  I  had  at  one  time  in  the  shape  of  property,  has  "  mizzled,"  as  snow  be- 
fore the  summer's  sun ;  or,  more  scripturally  speaking,  "  as  the  Philistines  before 
the  face  of  the  Lord." 

MoBEE.  A  fermented  liquor  made  by  the  negroes  in  the  "West  Indies,  pre- 
pared with  sugar,  ginger,  and  snake-root.  It  is  sold  by  them  in  the  mar- 
kets. —  CarmichaeVs  West  Indies. 

MoBOCRACY.     The  sway  of  the  mob. 

MoBTOWN.  A  name  given  long  ago  to  the  city  of  Baltimore,  and  which 
the  lawless  character  of  a  portion  of  its  inhabitants  renders  a  not  unfit- 
ting appellation  at  the  present  day. 

MocCASON,  or  Moccasin.     (Algonkin  Ind.)    An  Indian  shoe,  made  of 


MOC  — MON  275 

soft  leather  without  a  stiff  sole,  and  commonly  ornamented  round  the 
ancle.  —  Worcester. 

MocCASONED.     Intoxicated.     South  Carolina. 

MoccASON  Snake.  A  snake  of  bright  color,  reputed  poisonous,  of  which 
there  are  several  varieties. 

MoccASON  Fish.    The  sun-fish  of  Maryland. 

Mock  Auctioneer.    A  man  engaged  in  a  mock  auction  establishment. 

Mock  Auction.  A  pretended  auction  sale  used  to  entrap  people  from 
the  country.     New  York. 

Mocker-Nut.     (  Cari/a  tomentosa.)     A  species  of  hickory  nut, 

MoCKiNG-BiRD.  1.  {Tardus  polyglottos.)  This  capricious  little  mimic 
is  of  a  cinereous  color,  paler  beneath.  It  inhabits  America  from  New 
England  to  Brazil,  but  is  rare  and  migratory  in  the  Northern  States, 
whilst  it  is  common  and  resident  in  the  Southern.  This  bird,  although  it 
cannot  vie  with  most  of  the  American  species  in  brilliancy  of  plumage,  is 
much  sought  for  on  account  of  its  wonderful  faculty  of  imitating  the  tone 
of  every  inhabitant  of  the  woods,  from  the  twitter  of  the  humming-bird 
to  the  scream  of  the  eagle.  — Encycl.  Americana. 
2.    See  Nine-Killer. 

Molasses.  Used  as  a  plural  in  the  "West ;  as,  "Will  you  give  me  some 
of  those  molasses  ?  " 

Molly  Cotton-tail.    A  rabbit. 

Moneyed  Corporation.  Construed  by  statute  in  New  York  to  mean 
"  every  corporation  having  banking  powers,  or  having  the  power  to  make 
loans  upon  pledges  or  deposits,  or  authorized  by  law  to  make  insurances." 
—  Revised  Statutes. 

Monk-Fish.     See  Devil-Fish. 

MoxONGAHELA.  A  rivcr  of  Pennsylvania,  so  called,  gave  its  name  to 
the  rye  whiskey  of  which  large  quantities  were  produced  in  its  neighbor- 
hood, and  indeed  to  American  whiskey  in  general,  as  distinguished  from 
Usquebaugh  and  Inishowen,  the  Scotch  and  Irish  sorts. 

Monroe  Doctrine.  The  historical  "  Monroe  doctrine  "  consisted  of  two 
declarations,  the  first  of  which  grew  out  of  the  discussions  had  in  1823, 
and  earlier,  between  our  government  and  that  of  Russia  and  Great  Brit- 
ain in  regard  to  the  proper  limits  of  our  North-western  territory.  The 
leading  powers  of  Europe  up  to  that  time  had  been  accustomed  to  con- 


276  MON 

sider  the  unoccupied  portions  of  the  western  world  as  still  open,  in  point 
of  public  law,  to  settlement  and  colonization  as  derelict  territory,  upon 
which  they  might  enter  and  which  they  might  subsequently  hold,  on  con- 
dition of  occupying  the  land.  For  the  sake  of  rebutting  this  pretension, 
at  least  so  far  as  it  might  be  held  to  restrict  our  territorial  claims'  in  the 
North-west,  the  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe  took  the  occasion  to 
assert,  "  as  a  principle,  in  which  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  United 
States  were  involved,  that  the  American  continents,  by  the  free  and  inde- 
pendent condition  which  they  have  assumed  and  maintain,  are  henceforth 
not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for  future  colonization  by  any  European 
power."  It  is  well  known  that  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams  was  the 
author  of  this  "  principle  ; "  and  the  motives  by  which  he  was  influenced 
in  propounding  it  are  elaborately  set  forth  in  the  correspondence  he  had 
at  that  period  with  Mr.  Middleton,  then  our  minister  at  the  Russian 
court,  as  also  with  Mr.  Rush,  our  able  ambassador  at  the  Court  of  St. 
James.  His  argument  was,  in  brief,  that  the  South  American  States  and 
Mexico,  by  virtue  of  their  independence,  had  acceded  to  all  the  propri- 
etary rights  formerly  enjoyed  by  Spain;  and  since  the  United  States 
claimed  to  extend  their  jurisdiction  to  the  Pacific,  and  thus  over  the 
whole  of  the  North-western  territory  which  they  had  not  yet  actually 
occupied,  it  hence  resulted  that  both  the  northern  and  southern  conti- 
nents of  America  had  passed  under  the  civil  dominion  of  the  several 
States  among  which  they  were  parcelled.  In  other  words,  it  was  con- 
tended that  the  flag  of 'some  power  now  covered  and  protected  all  the 
territory  of  the  western  world,  which,  being  thus  preoccupied  by  civil- 
ized nations,  would  henceforth  be  accessible  to  Europeans  and  to  each 
other  only  on  the  footing  of  so  many  independent  sovereignties  claiming 
and  asserting  a  jurisdiction  which  shielded  the  whole  continent  from 
encroachments  under  the  old  and  long-recognised  rights  of  discovery  and 
settlement.  The  " Monroe  doctrine"  under  this  head,  had  that  extent, 
and  no  more. 

The  second  branch  of  the  declaration  made  by  President  Monroe,  in 
his  annual  message  of  1823,  related  to  the  apprehended  attempt  of  the 
European  powers,  combined  in  the  Holy  Alliance,  to  resubjugate  the 
Spanish- American  States  which  had  thrown  off  their  allegiance  to  the 
mother  country.  These  powers  had  solemnly  declared  at  Verona,  in 
1822,  their  "  resolution  to  repel  the  maxim  of  rebellion,  in  whatever 
place  or  under  whatever  form  it  might  show  itself,"  as  before  at  Troppau 
they  had  publicly  announced  "  that  the  European  States  have  an 
undoubted  right  to  take  a  hostile  attitude  in  regard  to  those  nations  in 
which  the  overthrow  of  government  might  operate  as  an  example." 
Who  does  not  see  that  a  blow  aimed  at  the  Spanish  provinces,  in  pursu- 


MON  .  277 

ance  of  principles  such  as  these,  was  equally  directed  at  us,  as  the 
revolted  provinces  of  Great  Britain,  and  in  which,  if  anywhere,  the 
*'  overthrow  of  government "  might  be  deemed  to  operate  as  an  "  exam* 
pie  "  calling  for  chastisement  ?  At  the  same  time  Great  Britain,  by  vir- 
tue of  her  constitutional  principles  of  civil  liberty,  was  equally  averse  to 
such  a  policy  as  was  espoused  by  the  Holy  Alliance,  and,  moreover,  had 
already  entered  into  favorable  commercial  relations  with  the  Spanish- 
American  republics,  which  she  was  unwilling  to  renounce  or  to  subject 
anew  to  the  hazards  and  interruptions  of  war.  Under  these  circum- 
stances it  was  that  Mr.  Canning,  then  the  British  Secretary  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  proposed  to  Mr.  Rush  that  "  the  government  of  the  United 
States  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  England"  in  resisting  any  attempt 
directed  to  the  resubjugation  of  the  revolted  colonies  of  Spain ;  and  it 
was  in  consequence  of  such  a  previous  concert  of  views  between  the  two 
governments,  as  well  as  in  obedience  to  obvious  considerations  of  public 
pohcy,  that  Mr.  Monroe  declared,  in  1823,  that  the  United  States  would 
consider  any  "  attempt  of  the  Allied  Powers  to  extend  their  system  to 
any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety."  — - 
Nat.  Intelligencer,  Sept.  18,  1858. 

Por  eight  years  we  have  diplomatized  with  England  on  the  subject,  and  the  ques- 
tion is  now  more  complicated  than  ever.  Perhaps  after  the  lapse  of  another  term 
of  eight  years,  we  may,  by  some  treaty  with  England,  be  admitted  to  a  participation 
in  the  facilities  for  interoccanic  communication  which  the  isthmus  [of  Panama]  af- 
fords. But  as  to  any  peculiar,  not  to  say  exclusive,  advantages  in  the  isthmus, 
which  we  have  claimed,  they  cannot  be  obtained.  While  other  nations  were  passive, 
it  was  thought  here  that  we  could  secure  tlie  isthmus  by  the  insertion  of  a  plank  in 
a  party  platform,  or  some  other  legerdemain.  If  we  now  fall  back  on  the  Monroe 
doctrine,  we  shall  see  the  dilFerence  between  an  abstraction  and  its  application  iu 
practice.  Our  theory  is  yet  to  be  defined  and  recognised  and  applied.  —  (Bolt.) 
Sun,  Oct.  30,  1858. 

Monstrous  is  much  used  by  the  vulgar  for  very,  exceedingly. 

And  will  be  monstrous  witty  on  the  poor. — Dryden. 

Augusta  is  a  monstrous  pretty  city ;  but  it  ain't  the  place  it  used  to  was,  by  a 
great  sight.  It  seems  like  it  was  rotting  off  at  both  ends,  and  ain't  growing  much 
in  the  middle.  — Maj.  Jones's  Sketches  of  Travel. 

It 's  monstrous  inconTenient  and  ridiculous.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England. 

He  '11  cut  the  same  capers  there  he  does  here.  He 's  a  monstrous  mean  horse.  — 
Georgia  Scenes,  p.  27. 

Monte.     (Span.)     A  game  of  chance  played  with  cards,  of  which  the 
Spanish- Americans  are  excessively  fond. 

There  are  other  games  at  cards  practised  among  the  people,  depending  more  upon 
skin ;  but  that  of  el  monte,  being  one  exclusively  of  chance,  possesses  an  all-absorb- 

24 


278  MON— MOO 

ing  attraction  difficult  to  be  conceived  of  by  the  uninitiated  spectator.  —  Gregg,  Com. 
of  Prairies,  Vol.  I.  p.  239. 

I  passed  through  an  open  door  leading  into  a  back  room,  where  were  a  small 
party  of  men  and  women  betting  at  monte.  I  lost  a  couple  of  dollars,  "just  to  get 
the  hang  of  the  game,"  as  the  facetious  Sam  Slick  would  say,  and  then  retired  to 
my  lodgings.  —  Kendall,  Santa  Fe  Exped.,  Vol.  I.  p.  46. 

Monumental  City.  Baltimore,  so  called  from  the  several  fine  monuments 
it  contains. 

Moose.  {Gervus  alces.)  The  Abenaki  Indian  name  of  an  animal  of  the 
genus  Cervus,  and  the  largest  of  the  deer  kind,  growing  sometimes  to 
the  height  of  seventeen  hands,  and  weighing  twelve  hundred  pounds. 
This  animal  inhabits  cold  northern  climates,  being  found  in  the  forests 

.     of  Canada  and  New  England. 

Lechford,   in  his   early  account  of  New  England,  entitled  "  Plaine 
Deahng,"  etc.,  printed  in  1642,  says: 

There  are  beares,  wolves,  and  foxes,  and  many  other  wild  beasts,  as  the  moose, 
a  kind  of  deare,  as  big  as  some  oxen  and  lyons,  as  I  have  heard. 

Moose-Wood.  A  species  of  maple  tree,  upon  the  leaves  of  which  the 
moose  feeds.     See  Leather  Wood. 

Some  of  the  deer  were  close  along  shore  feeding  upon  the  grass  that  grew  there ; 
others  were  nibbling  at  the  leaves  of  the  moosewood  upon  the  bank.  — Hammond, 
Wild  Northern  Scenes,  p.  145. 

Moose- Yard.  During  the  winter  the  moose,  in  famiHes  of  fifteen  or 
twenty,  seek  the  depth  of  the  forest  for  shelter  and  food.  Such  a  herd 
will  range  throughout  an  extent  of  about  five  hundred  acres,  subsisting 
upon  the  mosses  attached  to  the  trees,  or  browsing  the  tender  branches 
of  saplings,  especially  of  the  tree  called  Moose-Wood.  The  Indians 
name  parts  of  the  forest  thus  occupied,  moose-yards.  —  Godman^s  Amer. 
Nat,  Hist. 

In  the  far  away  northernmost  wilds  of  Maine, 

Where  the  murmuring  pines  all  the  year  complain. 

The  stalwart  wood-cutter  pitches  his  camp  ; 

In  his  cabin  of  logs  trims  his  winter  lamp. 

And  oft  when  the  moose-herd  hath  formed  its  yard, 

And  trampled  the  snows  like  a  pavement  hard. 

The  woodman  forsakes  his  sled  and  his  team. 

And  his  harvest  of  logs  by  the  frozen  stream ; 

And,  armed  with  his  axe  and  his  rifle,  he  goes 

To  slaughter  the  moose  blocked  in  by  the  snows ; 

And  many  a  savory  banquet  doth  cheer 

The  fireside  joys  of  his  wintry  year, 

With  the  haunch  of  the  moose  and  the  dappled  deer. 

N.  Y.  Knickerbocker,  Oct.  1858. 


MOP  — MOR  279 

Mop-Board.  The  wash-board  which  extends  around  the  floor  at  the  base 
of  the  walls  in  the  interior  of  a  house,  is  so  called  in  New  England. 

MoPiTSSES.     Cash.     An  English  slang  term,  not  often  heard  among  us. 

Whether  the  man  with  the  mopusses  is  happy  or  not,  he  would  n't  change  himself 
with  one  in  lower  circumstances  for  a  mortgage  upon  an  acre  of  heaven.  —  Dow's 
Sermons,  I.  p.  178. 

More.  The  comparative  endings,  ~er  and  -est,  are  very  commonly  discarded 
both  by  speakers  and  wiiters,  even  from  monosyllabic  adjectives,  and 
their  places  supplied  by  more  and  most. 

The  first  edition  of  the  work  contained  a  more  full  vocabulary  of  English  words 
than  the  dictionaries  which  at  that  time  were  generally  used  in  schools.  — Worcester, 
Preface  to  Dictionary,  1856. 

The  Mexican  clergy  are  nowhere  famous  for  strictness  of  life  or  purity  of  char- 
acter. They  have  the  reputation  of  being  more  fond  of  cards  than  of  their  breviaries. 
Harper's  Magazine,  Vol.  XVII.  p.  179. 

Morgan.  The  phrase  "^  's  a  good  enough  Morgan,"  originated  as  fol- 
lows :  During  the  "  anti-Masonic  "  warfare  in  the  State  of  New  York,  a 
great  excitement  was  created  by  the  abduction  of  one  Morgan,  who  was 
said  to  have  been  confined  by  the  freemasons  in  or  near  Fort  Niagara, 
and  afterwards  drowned  in  the  river.  The  alleged  reason  for  the  reported 
crime  was  Morgan's  betrayal  of  masonic  secrets.  The  excitement  was 
worked  up  to  the  highest  pitch,  by  the  finding  of  a  dead  body  floating  in 
the  river,  which  was  said  to  be  that  of  Morgan.  Even  his  wife  swore  to 
the  identity,  and  a  lost  tooth  was  fitted  into  the  jaw.  It  was  afterwards, 
however,  ascertained  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  body  was  not  that  of  Mor- 
gan, whose  fate  still  is  a  mystery. 

It  was  asserted  that  the  whole  affair  was  got  up  for  poHtical  effect.  A 
current  story  was,  that  a  celebrated  politician  concerned  in  the  affair, 
upon  being  reminded  that  the  dead  body  found  would  not  pass  for  Mor- 
gan, said  that  it  was  "  a  good  enough  Morgan "  for  his  purpose.  The 
phrase  has  now  passed  into  general  use,  and  is  applied  to  a  really  or  sup- 
posed bare-faced  imposition,  particularly  in  politics.  —  G.  G.  Schaeffer. 

Morgan  Horse.  A  type  of  horse  bearing  this  name,  and  coming  fi*om 
Vermont,  is  familiar  to  the  sporting  world.  This  breed  of  horses  is 
traced  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  derives  its  name 
from  Justin  Morgan,  of  Randolph,  Vermont,  a  schoolmaster,  who  owned 
the  animal  from  which  all  have  descended. 

Mormon.     1.   The  pretended  author  of  the  "  Book  of  Mormon." 

Behold  I  were  about  to  write  them  all  which  were  engraven  upon  the  plates  of 
Nephi,  but  the  Lord  forbid  it,  saying,  I  will  try  the  faith  of  my  people ;  therefore  I, 


280  M  0  R 

Mormon,  do  write  the  things  which  have  been  commanded  me  of  the  Lord.  — Booh 
of  Nephi,  Chap.  XII. 

2.  One  of  the  Mormonites,  or  Latter-day  Saints,  a  religious  sect  which 
derive  their  name  from  the  "  Book  of  Mormon." 

The  Book  of  Mormon,  first  published  in  the  year  1830,  purports  to  be 
the  record  or  history  of  a  certain  people  who  inhabited  America  previous 
to  its  discovery  by  Columbus.  This  history,  containing  prophecies  and 
revelations,  was  engraven  (according  to  it),  by  the  command  of  God,  on 
small  brass  plates,  and  deposited  in  the  hill  Comora,  in  Western  New 
York.  These  plates  were  discovered  (the  Mormons  say)  by  Joseph 
Smith,  in  the  year  1825 ;  they  contain  certain  hieroglyphics,  in  the 
Egyptian  character,  which  Smith,  guided  by  inspiration,  translated.  It 
purported  to  give  the  history  of  America  from  its  first  settlement  by  a 
colony  from  the  tower  of  Babel,  to  the  fifth  century  of  our  era.  It  stated 
that  the  Saviour  made  his  appearance  upon  this  continent  after  his  resur- 
rection ;  that  he  planted  the  gospel  here  —  had  his  apostles,  prophets, 
teachers,  etc. ;  that  the  people  were  cut  off  in  consequence  of  their  trans- 
gressions ;  and  that  the  last  of  their  prophets  wrote  the  Book  of  Mormon 
on  the  brass  plates  above  named,  "  which  he  hid  in  the  earth  until  it 
should  come  forth  and  be  united  with  the  Bible,  for  the  accomplishment 
of  the  purposes  of  God  in  the  last  days." 

Smith  readily  found  many  to  believe  his  statements,  and  in  1830  organ- 
ized his  first  church  of  Mormons  in  Manchester,  Ontario  county.  New 
York.  Other  preachers  sprang  up,  who  "  saw  visions  and  prophesied, 
cast  out  devils  and  healed  the  sick,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,"  and  per- 
formed other  miracles.  New  churches  or  societies  were  formed  in  other 
States,  until  in  a  few  years  their  number  amounted  to  many  thousands. 
They  removed  in  a  body  to  Missouri,  where  a  most  cruel  and  relentless 
persecution  sprang  up  against  them,  which  foi'ced  them  to  quit  their 
homes  and  the  State.  They  then  sought  a  refuge  in  Illinois,  where  they 
founded  a  city  called  Nauvoo,  in  which  they  erected  an  immense  edifice 
or  temple. 

Persecution  followed  these  people  in  Illinois.  They  were  attacked 
by  armed  bodies  of  men,  by  order  of  the  State  authorities,  driven  out  by 
force,  and  compelled  to  abandon  or  sacrifice  their  property.  Such  as  sur- 
vived the  persecution,  after  traversing  the  boundless  prairies,  the  deserts 
of  the  far  West,  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  finally  found  a  resting-place 
near  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  where  some  forty  thousand  of  them  have 
established  themselves,  and  chiefly  constitute  the  Territory  of  Utah. 

MoRMONDOM.     The  country  occupied  by  the  Mormons ;  the  whole  body 
of  Mormons. 

MOBMONISM.     The  doctrines  of  the  Mormonites. 


MOR  — MOU  281 

MORMONITES.  The  followers  of  the  factitious  prophet  Mormon,  usually 
called  Mormons. 

Mortal.  Used  in  vulgar  pai-lance  adverbially  for  mortally ;  i.  e.  exces- 
sively. 

It  was  a  mortal  hot  day,  and  people  actually  sweated  to  that  degree,  it  laid  the 
dust.  — Sam  Slick,  3d  ser.  p.  102. 

To  Mosey.  To  be  off;  to  leave;  to  sneak  away.  A  low  expression. 
The  following  is  said  to  be  the  origin  of  the  Avord :  A  postmaster  in 
Ohio  by  the  name  of  Moses  i*an  away  with  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
belonging  to  the  government.  To  mosey  off,  or  to  run  away,  as  Mr. 
Moses  had,  then  became  a  by-word  in  Oliio,  and,  with  its  meaning  some- 
what extended,  has  spread  over  the  Union. 

After  I  left  you,  or  rather  after  you  left  mo,  when  them  fellows  told  you  to  mosey 
off  before  the  boat  went  to  sea.  — N.  Y.  Family  Companion. 

Mo  SET  Sugar.  The  name  of  a  cake  made  of  sugar  for  children.  Penn- 
sylvania. ^'^•-^<i(^-^--^.^/^^JuZ.f/>/ 

Mosquito  Bar,  Musquito  Net.  A  net  or  curtain  which,  in  the  South- 
ern States  and  in  the  "West  Indies,  is  placed  over  the  bed  to  protect  a 
person  from  mosquitoes. 

MosSBUNKER.     See  Menhaden. 

Under  the  surfaces,  and  inside  the  exterior  of  all  these  [smooth  characters],  there 
may  be  found  as  many  asperities  as  there  are  bones  in  a  mossbunker. — Dow's  Sermons, 
Vol.1. 

Most.     A  common  error  in  speaking  and  writing,  for  almost. 

Most  of  us  Americans  have  been  to  see  the  "  monster  nugget."  It  was  found 
about  three  months  ago  at  I^ngower,  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  from  Melbourne, 
by  four  old  CalifoiTiia  miners.  Tliey  have  been  four  years  in  the  diggings,  and  had 
most  a  pile  before  striking  the  last  prize. — Lettei-  of  J.  F.  Thornton,  Dec.  24,  1857, 
in  San  Francisco  Bulletin. 

MOTTE,  or  Mot.  (French.)  A  clump  of  trees  in  a  prairie ;  also  called 
"  an  island  of  timber."     Texas. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  prairies  should  be  entirely  destitute  of  trees  ;  for  there  are 
timber  prairies,  where  trees  grow  in  mottes  or  groves,  sometimes  termed  islands, 
from  their  resemblance  to  wooded  islands  in  tlie  sea. — Mayne  Reed,  The  Boy  Hunt- 
ers. 

Before  us  lay  beautiful  prairies,  with  the  smooth-grassed  surface,  varied  here  and 
there  by  herds  of  cattle  and  little  belts,  mottes,  and  groups  of  live  oak.  — Olmsted's 
Texas,  p.  137. 

All  that  was  necessary  was  to  keep  a  bright  look-out,  and  not  fall  into  an  ambus- 
cade while  passing  the  different  mots  and  ravines  scattered  along  our  tj-ail.  — Kendall's 
Santa  Fe  Exped.,  Vol.  I. 

Mought.  This  obsolete  preterite  of  may  is  still  heard  among  old  people  in 
the  interior  parts  of  New  England. 

24* 


282  MOU  — MOV 

Mounds.  An  artificial  elevation  made  of  earth  of  various  forms  for  se- 
pulchral and  other  purposes,  of  which  large  numbers  are  found,  chiefly 
in  the  wider  bottom  lands,  and  at  the  junction  of  the  tributaries  of  the 
Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers.  In  the  most  fertile  valleys,  and  those  most 
easy  of  cultivation,  these  mounds  are  found  in  the  greatest  numbers. 
In  England  they  would  be  termed  tumuli  or  barrows. 

Mound-Builders.  The  aboriginal  race  which  erected  the  ancient  mounds 
and  other  earthworks  found  in  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio 
rivers  and  their  tributaries. 

If  we  admit  the  correctness  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  views  [that  the  ancient  agriculture 
of  North  America  originated  between  the  tropics],  we  must  derive  the  agriculture 
of  the  mound-builders  from  the  South,  and  assign  tliat  race  chronologically  a  com- 
paratively low  date.  This  we  arc  not  prepared  to  do;  on  the  contrary,  there  are. 
many  facts  going  to  establish  for  the  mound-builders  a  very  liigh  antiquity,  etc.  — 
■Squier,  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

We  need  not  look  to  Mexico  or  any  other  country,  for  the  descendants  of  the 
mound-builders.  We  probably  see  them  in  the  present  red  race  of  the  same  or  adja- 
cent regions.  —  LapJiam's  Antiq.  of  Wisconsin. 

The  red  man  came 

The  roaming  hunter  tribes,  Avarlike  and  fierce ; 
And  the  mound-builders  vanished  from  the  earth. 
The  solitude  of  centuries  untold 
Has  settled  where  they  dwelt.  —  Bryant,  The  Prairies. 

MouND-CiTY.  The  city  of  St.  Louis,  so-called  from  the  number  of  arti- 
ficial mounds  that  occupied  the  site  on  which  the  city  is  built. 

Mourners.  Persons  on  the  "  anxious  seat "  in  Methodist  churches,  and 
at  "revival"  meetings,  are  technically  termed  ^^ mourners ;"  that  is,  per- 
sons mourning  for  their  sins. 

"  Crowding  the  mourners"  in  political  slang,  means  adding  some  further 
embarrassment  to  politicians  laboring  under  difficulties. 

To  Move.  1.  For  to  remove.  To  change  one's  residence.  In  the  city 
of  New  York,  it  is  the  custom  to  hire  houses  by  the  year  from  the 
first  day  of  May ;  and  as  many,  especially  of  the  poorer  class,  remove 
every  year  or  two,  an  immense  deal  of  puss-in-tlie-corner  playing  takes 
place  on  that  day,  producing  many  curious  scenes  to  astonish  the  stranger. 
The  custom  is  being  gradually  "  honored  in  the  breach "  of  it ;  but  had 
Hogarth  been  a  New  Yorker,  and  lived  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago,  May- 
day would  certainly  have  found  a  j)lace  in  his  delineations  of  human 
eccentricities. 

These  arc  great  moving  times.  The  sovereigns  of  Europe  are  being  moved,  much 
against  their  will,  —  and  the  sovereign  people  of  New  York  are  on  the  eve  of 
moving,  according  to  custom,  which  has  made  the  May -day  sports  of  this  city  a  very 


MUC  — MUD  283 

peculiar  feature.  Could  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  only  move  as  easily  as  the  sover- 
eigns of  New  York  do,  from  house  to  house,  palace  to  palace,  etc.,  they  would  be 
well  content,  and  not  complain,  as  many  movers  to-morrow  will.  — N.  Y.  Sunday 
Atlas,  April  30,  1848. 

Mr.  Irving  gives  the  following  humorous  account  of  the  origin  of  this 
custom  of  moving  on  the  first  of  May. 

The  memorable  emigration  [of  the  people  of  Communipaw  to  New  Amsterdam] 
took  place  on  the  first  of  May,  and  was  long  cited  in  tradition  as  the  grand  moving. 
The  anniversary  of  it  was  piously  observed  among  their  sons,  by  turning  their 
houses  topsy-turvy,  and  carrying  all  their  furniture  into  the  sti-eets,  etc. ;  and  this  is 
the  real  origin  of  the  universal  agitation  and  moving  by  which  this  most  restless  of 
cities  is  literally  turned  out  of  doors  on  eveiy  May-day.  — Knickerbocker,  N.  York. 

2.    To  go,  depart.     Much  used  in  familiar  language,  particularly  in  the 
phrase,  to  he  moving. 

As  soon  as  the  ceremony  was  over,  "Now,"  says  I,  "we  vansthe  a  moving." — 
Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  166. 

Much.  In  New  England,  "  He  is  very  much  of  a  man,"  means,  he  is  a 
man  of  very  good  qualities ;  and  when  a  discarded  suitor  says  of  his 
former  mistress,  "  She  is  not  much  of  a  girl  after  all,"  he  means  to  im- 
ply that  she  is  "  no  great  shakes." 

MuD-FisH.  {Melatiura  pygmcea.)  A  small  fish  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
which  burrows  in  the  mud. 

Mud-Devil.     See  Water-Dog,  and  Salamander. 

Mud-Head.     A  nick-name  applied  to  the  natives  of  Tennessee. 

Mud-Hen.  The  common  name  of  the  Virginia  Rail  of  ornithologists.  It 
inhabits  small  streams  and  marshes. 

Mud  Pout.     See  Cat-jish. 

Mud-Sill.     The  longitudinal  timber  laid  upon  the  ground  to  form  the  foun- 
dation for  a  railway.     Hence  figuratively  applied  to  the  laboring  classes, 
as  the  substratum  of  society,  in  the  following  passage  of  a  speech  of  Sen- 
ator Hammond  of  South  Carolina,  which  has  occasioned  much  remark : 
In  all  social  systems  there  must  be  a  class  to  perform  the  drudgery  of  life,  —  that 
is,  a  class  requiring  but  a  low  order  of  intellect,  and  but  little  skill.     Such  a  class 
you  must  have,  or  you  would  not  have  that  other  class  which  leads  progress,  civili- 
zation, and  refinement.     It  constitutes  the  very  mud-sill  of  society  and  of  political 
government ;  and  you  might  as  well  attempt  to  build  a  house  in  the  air,  as  to  build 
either  the  one  or  the  other  except  on  this  mudsill. — Speech  of  Senator  Hammond, 
March  4,  1858. 

It  is  time  that  Virginia  was  turning  her  attention  to  manufactures,  mechanics, 
mining,  and  foreign  commerce.  No  country,  no  State  can  live  upon  one  only  of 
the  five  cardinal  powers  of  production.  She  must  resort  to  all  the  five  combined, 
and  she  is  doing  it.     I  say  that  labor  is  not  the  "  mud-sill "  of  society ;  and  I  thank 


284  MUD  — MUL 

God  that  the  old  colonial  aristocracy  of  Virginia,  which  despised  mechanical  and 
manual  labor,  is  nearly  run  out.  — Speech  of  Gov.  Wise  of  Virginia,  1858. 

Mud-Sill  Clubs.  The  miners  and  working-men  of  California  who  sup- 
port Broderick  in  his  opposition  to  the  Administration,  are  prepai'ing  for 
a  vigorous  campaign,  and  are  already  organizing  themselves  into  associa- 
tions which  they  style  "  Mud-sill  Clubs."  —  New  York  Evening  Post, 
1858. 

Mud-Turtle.  {Stemothcerus  odorata.)  The  popular  name  of  a  reptile 
common  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  Marsh  Tortoise  and  Mud 
Terrapin  are  other  names  for  the  same. 

MuLADA.     (Span.)     A  drove  of  mules. 

We  recognised  the  horsemen  as  a  band  of  robbers,  and  then*  object  was  plain ; 
collected  our  mulada  into  a  compact  body,  with  our  pieces  cocked,  ready  for  service. 
— Ruxton's  Adventures,  p.  65. 

The  Indians  frightened  the  mules,  which,  turning  round,  broke  the  pole  of  the 
wagon.  As  this  accident  prevented  us  keeping  up  with  the  mulada  ahead,  the  con- 
ductor went  to  the  assistance  of  the  men  driving  the  herd.  —  Wood's  Report  on  the 
Pacific  Wagon-Road,  p.  7. 

Mulatto.  (Span.  Ifulato.)  A  midatto  is  the  offspring  of  a  white  and  a 
negro  ;  a  quadroon,  of  a  white  and  a  mulatto,  being  one  quarter  black ; 
a  musiee,  of  a  white  and  a  quadroon,  or  one  eighth  black  ;  and  a  musta- 
jina,  of  a  white  and  a  mustee,  being  one  sixteenth  black.  Terms  imply- 
ing a  much  less  admixture  of  blood  are  prevalent  in  Cuba.  —  Bait.  Sun, 
Sept.  3,  1858. 

Mule  Deer.  (Cervus  macrotis.')  The  largest  of  the  true  deer  found  in 
North  America.  It  derives  its  scientific  name,  macrotis,  from  the  great 
length  of  its  ears,  resembling  those  of  the  mule,  whence  it  is  sometimes 
called  the  3Iide  Deer.  Its  more  common  appellation.  Black-tail  Deer,  is 
owing  to  the  black  tip  to  its  tail.  — S.  F.  Baird. 

Mule  Rabbit.     See  Jackass  Rabbit. 

MuLET  Saw.  (Germ.  Muhlsdge,  mill-saw.)  That  variety  of  miU-saw 
which  is  not  hung  in  the  gate.  It  is  also  spelt  mulay,  moiley,  muhley,  the 
last  indicating  its  origin. 

To  Mull.  To  soften  and  dispirit.  — Johnson.  The  only  authority  cited 
by  Johnson  is  from  Shakspeare  : 

Peace  is  a  very  apoplexy,  lethargy, 

Mull'd,  deaf,  sleepy,  insensible.  — Coriolanus. 

Used  in  New  England. 

There  has  been  a  pretty  considerable  mullin  going  on  among  the  doctors,  ever  sen 
the  quack  medicine  came  out. — Margaret,  t^.  170. 


MUM  — MUS  285 

Mumble  the  Peg.  A  boy's  game.  It  consists  in  endeavoring  to  draw 
out  with  the  teeth  a  peg  driven  almost  wholly  into  the  ground.  The  suc- 
cessful one  of  course  wins. 

MuMMACHOG.  (Genus,  Fundulus).  The  popular  name  of  the  Barred 
Killifish  of  naturalists.  It  is  a  small  fish  from  two  to  four  inches  in 
length,  and  frequents  the  salt-water  creeks  and  the  vicinity  of  the 
wharves.  This  Indian  name  is  retained  on  both  sides  of  Long  Island 
Sound.       ^  ^ 

MuNG  News.     False,  fictitious.     I  do  not  know  the  origin  of  the  phrase. 
As  many  of  our  citizens  who  intend  to  go  to  California  may  base  their  an-ange- 
ments  upon  the  mung  news  of  some  of  the  papers,  we  conceive  it  to  be  our  duty  to 
state  that  most  of  these  letters  are  fictions. — N.  Y.  Express,  Feb.  17,  1849. 

MuRTH.     Plenty,  abundance.     A  north  of  England  word. 

I  think  we  should  have  had  a  murth  of  it  this  year,  but  the  summer  has  been  a  lit- 
tle too  cold,  and  Indian  corn  must  liave  a  hot  sun.  — Brooke's  Eastford,  p.  76. 

Music.  Amusement,  fun.  "  Jim  is  a  right  clever  fellow ;  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  music  in  him." 

Musical.     Amusing.     New  England. 

MusiCiANER.     A  musician.     Vulgar.     Used  in  Norfolk,  England. 

The  musicianers  sot  down  right  in  front  of  the  stage,  and  they  was  led  by  a  hand- 
some young  man,  wliose  head  went  from  one  side  to  the  other  like  happy  people  at 
a  camp  meetin'.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times, 

MusK-Ox.  (Ovibos  moschatus.)  This  animal  inhabits  the  hilly,  barren 
grounds  between  the  Welcome  and  Copper  Mountains,  from  the  63d  or 
64:th  parallel  to  the  Arctic  Sea.  In  size  they  are  nearly  equal  to  the 
smallest  Highland  cattle ;  but  they  are  more  compactly  made,  and  the 
shaggy  hair  of  their  flanks  almost  touches  the  ground.  Their  flesh  is 
tainted  with  a  strong  flavor  of  musk,  which  is  more  particularly  the  case 
with  the  bulls.  — S.  F.  Baird. 

MuSKELUNGE.     See  Mashinonge. 
MusKEET.     See  Mesquit. 

Mush.  Indian  meal  boiled  with  water,  and  eaten  with  milk  or  molasses. 
It  is  often  called  hasty-pudding,  and  is  a  favorite  dish  throughout  the 
United  States.  In  Hallamshire,  England,  to  mush  means  to  crush  or 
pound  very  small.     From  this  our  word  may  have  originated. 

E'en  in  thy  native  regions,  how  I  blush 
To  hear  the  Pennsylvanians  call  thee  mush  ! 


286  MUS  — MUS 

On  Hudson's  banks,  while  men  of  Belgic  spawn 
Insult  and  eat  thee  hy  the  name  suppawn.  — Barlow,  Hasty-Pudding. 
Our  hasty-pudding  we  can  eat 

Without  the  Southern  sweetness, 
Though  true  it  is  that  mush  without 
Molasses  wants  completeness.  — Anonymous. 

Musk-rat.  (Fiber  zibetMcus.)  An  animal  closely  allied  in  form  and  hab- 
its to  the  beaver,  inhabiting  the  banks  of  streams  and  ponds.  It  has  a 
powerful  musky  odor  in  summer,  which  it  loses  in  winter. 

Musquash.  (Abenaki  Ind.,  muskwessu.)  The  musk-rat  among  the  traders 
in  the  Northern  States  is  often  called  by  this  aboriginal  name. 

The  mussacits  is  a  beaste  of  the  forme  and  nature  of  our  water  rats,  but  many  of 
them  smell  exceedingly  strongly  of  muske. — Smith,  Hist,  of  Virginia,  1629,  Booke 
II. 

Musquash  Root.  (Cicuta  maculata.)  An  umbelliferous  plant  and 
deadly  poison. 

Muss.  A  corruption  of  mess,  a  state  of  confusion ;  a  squabble ;  a  row. 
This  vulgarism  is  very  common  in  New  York. 

"My  head  aches,"  said  he  ;  "  they  have  put  my  mind  and  body  both  into  a  con- 
founded muss." — Mrs.  Child,  Letters  from  New  York,  p.  129. 

I  saw  the  British  flag  a  flyin'  from  the  top  of  the  mast,  and  my  first  notion  was  to 
haul  it  down,  and  up  with  the  stars  and  stripes ;  but  I  concluded  I  had  n't  better  say 
nothin'  about  it,  for  it  might  get  the  two  nations  into  a  muss,  and  then  there  would 
have  to  be  a  war.  — Hiram  Bigelow's  Letter  in  Fam.  Companion. 

Mr.  Soule  is  trying  to  get  up  a  muss  with  Spain,  or  with  Louis  Napoleon.  — Maj. 
Downing  in  National  Intelligencer. 

Mose.  —  Satisfaction,  eh  !  Well,  if  he  wants  to  make  a  micss,  I  'm  on  hand.  — 
Play,  A  Glance  at  New  York. 

I  got  into  a  7nuss  down  at  the  store  last  night,  and  was  whipped,  and  deserved  it 
too. — Borthwick's  California,  p.  153. 

When  near  their  place  of  debarkation,  they  came  across  a  gang  of  b'hoys,  with 
whom  they  came  in  collision ;  and  as  that  class  of  individuals  are  always  inclined  to 
have  a  bit  of  a  "  muss,"  that  result  was  very  soon  accomplished.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of 
the  Times. 

There  is,  also,  an  old  English  word  muss,  meaning  a  scramble  ;  but  it 
has  apparently  no  connection  with  the  above. 

To  Muss.  1.  A  corruption  of  to  mess.  To  disarrange,  disorder;  to  tumble, 
rumple.  Ex.  "  I  hate  to  ride  in  an  omnibus,  because  it  musses  my 
clothes  ; "  "I  'm  all  mussed  up."     The  word  is  much  used  in  New  York. 

Sec  that  beautiful  girl  [the  morning  after  a  ball] ;  her  hair  mussed  and  mossy,  ex- 
cept what  lies  in  the  bureau ;  and  her  whole  contour  wearing  the  aj^earancc  of  an 
angel  rammed  tlurough  a  bush  fence  into  a  world  of  wretchedness  and  woe.  — Daw's 
Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  151. 


MUS  — MUX  287 

2.   (Dutch,  morsen.)     To  soil,  besmear,  befoul ;  as,  "  That  child  has 
mussed  himself  all  over  with  molasses  candy." 

MussuLMEN.  There  are  American  as  well  as  English  writers  who  thus 
form  the  plural  of  the  Turkish  Mussulman,  erronously  imagining  the 
last  syllable  to  be  the  English  word  man.  The  correct  plural,  of  course, 
is  "Mussulmans." 

A  correspondent  of  the  N.  Y.  Daily  Times  (Nov.  6,  1851)  has  carried 
out  the  absurdity  by  coining  the  term  Mussulboy  !     He  says : 

The  Turkish  sultan  has  just  sent  me  one  of  his  sons.  Master  Abdel  Hamid,  a  lit- 
tle Mussulboy  of  nine  years,  to  be  educated  in  Paris. 

MusST.  1.  Disarranged,  disordered,  tumbled;  as,  "Although  your  cap 
has  just  been  ironed,  it  looks  quite  mussy" 

2.    (Dutch,  morsig.)     Smeary,  dirty,  nasty ;  as,  "  These  plates  have 
not  been  wiped  clean  ;  they  look  mussy." 

MuSTAFiNA.     See  Mulatto. 

Mustang.  (Span,  mesteno.)  The  wild  horse  of  the  prairies,  descended 
from  the  stock  introduced  into  America  by  the  first  Spanish  colonists. 
He  is  of  various  colors,  a  cream  color  and  piebald  being  quite  common. 

.  Mustangs  are  found  in  the  greatest  numbers  on  the  rich  prairies  of 
South-western  Texas,  where  I  encountered  numerous  herds,  and  expe- 
rienced the  not  unusual  excitement  of  having  a  stampede  caused  by 
them.  They  are  generally  of  bad  disposition,  and  hard  to  subdue.  Few 
are  seen  west  of  the  Rio  Grande. 

The  wild  horse  of  the  prairies,  and  the  invariable  companion  of  their  inhabitants. 
Sparing  ia  diet,  a  stranger  to  grain,  easily  satisfied  whether  on  growing  or  dead 
grass,  inured  to  all  weathers,  capable  of  great  labor,  the  mustang  pony  seems  as  pecu- 
liarly adapted  to  the  prairies  as  the  camel  is  to  the  desert.  — Thorpe's  Backwoods,  p. 
12. 

MuSTANGERS.      Men  who   employ  themselves  in   catching   mustangs  for 
'    market. 

The  business  of  entrapping  mustangs  has  given  rise  to  a  class  of  men  called  mus- 

tangers,  composed  of  runaway  vagabonds  and  outlaws  of  all  nations,  the  legitimate 

border-ruffians  of  Texas.  — Olmsted's  Texas,  p.  443. 

Mustang  Grape.  Indigenous  to  Texas,  probably  a  variety  of  the  Vitis 
rotundifiora  of  Michaux.  The  bunches  are  small,  each  grape  being  the 
size  of  an  ounce  lead  ball.  A  wine  is  made  from  it  similar  to  Port,  or, 
according  to  some,  Burgundy. 

MusTEE.     See  Mulatto. 

To  Mux  is  much  used  in  New  England  for  muss  ;  as,  "  Do  n't  mux  my 
crinoline." 


MUZ— NAK 

To  Muzzle.     To  skulk.     A  Yorkshire  word. 

The  child  mopes  ;  she  muzzles  about  in  the  grass  and  chips.  — Margaret. 


N. 

Nabber.     In  the  city  of  New  York,  a  thief. 

Naked  Possessor.  The  occupant  of  land  for  a  long  period  without  a 
title,  being  the  manifest,  evident,  and  undisguised  possessor,  is  called  in 
Texas  the  naked  possessor. 

Ten  years  of  peaceable  possession  and  cultivation,  use,  or  enjoyment  thereof,  ■with- 
out any  evidence  of  title,  shall  give  to  such  naked  possessor  full  pi'operty  procursive 
of  all  other  claims,  in  and  to  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  including  his  im- 
provement. —  Laws  of  Texas. 

Nankeen.  (Chinese.)  A  species  of  light  yellow  or  fawn-colored  cloth, 
made  from  cotton  of  the  same  color  {Gossypium  religiosum),  which  color 
is  permanent.  This  article  was  formerly  imported  in  large  quantities 
from  China ;  but  since  the  cultivation  of  the  raw  material  in  the  United 
States,  introduced  by  Mr.  John  Forsyth,  formerly  Secretary  of  State, 
Nankeens  have  been  manufactured  here,  in  every  respect  equal  to  and 
cheaper  than  the  Chinese  article.  "^ 

Narragansett  Pacer.  A  breed  of  Rhode  Island  horses  once  very 
famous ;  but  although  we  often  hear  of  Narragansett  pacers,  there  is  now 
no  particular  breed  so  called.  In  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  America  Dis- 
sected," by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mac  Sparran,  published  in  Dublin  in  1753, 
the  writer,  in  speaking  of  Rhode  Island,  says  :  "  The  produce  of  this 
colony  is  fat  cattle,  wool,  and  fine  horses,  which  are  exported  to  all  parts 
of  English  America.  They  ai-e  remarkable  for  their  fleetness  and  swift 
pacing,  and  I  have  seen  some  of  them  pace  a  mile  in  little  more  than 
two  minutes  ;  a  good  deal  less  than  three."  According  to  that  veritable 
historian,  Diedrich  Knickerbocker,  Narragansett  pacers  were  well  known 
in  the  early  days  of  New  Amsterdam. 

Not  so  easily  did  he  [Peter  Stuyvcsant]  escape  from  the  crafty  hands  of  a  crafty 
man  of  Pyquag ;  who,  with  undaunted  perseverance  and  repeated  onsets,  finally 
bargained  him  out  of  his  goodly  switch-tailed  charger,  leaving  in  place  thereof  a 
villainous,  foundered  Narragansett  pacer.  —  Knickerbocker's  N.  Y. 

I  had  an  everlastin'  fast  Narragansett  pacer.  I  was  considerable  proud  of  him,  I 
assure  you ;  for  he  took  the  rag  off  the  bush  in  great  style.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human 
Nature,  p.  218. 

Nary.  A  common  corruption  of  "  ne'er  a."  So  nary  one,  for  "  ne'er  a 
one." 


NAR  — NAT  289 

It 's  no  use  argufyin'  the  matter,  —  I  'm  the  ugliest  man  now  on  top  of  du-t. 
Thar 's  nary  nuther  like  me.  —  Widow  Bagly's  Husband. 

"  Arter  I  got  into  Mobile,  I  was  bothered  and  pestered  by  the  people  stoppin'  in 
the  street  to  look  at  me,  all  dirty  and  lightwood  smoked  as  I  was,  from  being  on 
the  boat." 

"  I  think  I  'd  a  cleaned  up  a  little,"  interposed  tidy  Lucy. 

"  Old  'oman,  ain't  you  got  nary  cold  tater  to  choke  that  gal  with  ?  "  —  Ibid. 

Among  the  many  "  highfaluting  "  toasts,  sentiments,  and  mottoes  pro- 
duced on  the  occasion  of  the  successful  laying  of  the  Atlantic  telegraph 
cable,  was  the  following  at  North  Conway : 

The  Atlantic  Cable  and  the  White  Mountains,  —  both  monuments  of  God's 
power,  but  nary  one  alike.  —  N.  Y.  Evening  Post,  Sept.  1,  1858. 

Nary  Red.  A  contraction  for  "ne'er  a  red  (cent),"  alluding  to  the  color 
of  the  copper  cent.  —  See  Hed  Cent. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  the  new  coin  [the  nickel  cent]  will  be  plentiful  enough 
at  par ;  the  Spanish  coins  will  go  out  of  the  hands  of  the  brokers,  just  as  they  al- 
ready have  disappeared  from  ordinary  circulation ;  and,  as  regards  the  old  cents, 
there  will  be  "nary  red"  to  be  seen,  except  such  as  will  be  found  in  the  cabinets  of 
coin  collectors.  — Philad.  Bulletin,  May,  1857. 

Our  citizens  last  week  adopted  a  new  plan  for  protecting  their  banks  fi-om  being 
nm  by  the  brokers.  Learning  that  a  broker  had  reached  town  from  a  neighboring 
city  to  run  the  bank  for  coin,  they  promptly  placed  on  one  side  of  the  bank  en- 
trance a  bucket  of  tar  and  a  brush,  and  upon  the  opposite,  a  long,  rough  looking 
fence-rail,  bearing  this  inscription,  "  Nary  red  to  nary  broker."  As  the  broker  ap- 
proached the  bank,  he  read  the  inscription,  glanced  at  the  tar-bucket,  and  retreated 
The  bank  went  on  as  usual.  —  Springfield  (Ohio)  Nonpariel,  1858. 

Nation.     A  corruption  of  damnation.     Immense,  "enormous;  very,  ex- 
tremely.    Used  in  both  ways  in  Old  and  in  New  England. 
There  were  a  nation  set  a'  folks  at  kirk.  —  Carr's  Craven  Gloss. 
But  no  sense  of  a  place,  some  think, 

Is  tliis  here  liill  so  high ; 
Cos  there,  full  oft,  'tis  nation  cold. 
But  that  don't  argufy.  —  Essex  Dialect,  Noakes  and  Styles. 
You  colony  chaps  are  a  nation  sight  too  well  off,  so  you  be.  —  Sam  Slick. 
And  every  time  they  shoot  it  off. 

It  takes  a  horn  of  powder. 
And  makes  a  noise  like  father's  gun. 

Only  a  nation  louder.  —  Song.     Yankee  Doodle. 

National.  Relating  or  belonging  to  the  nation  at  large,  having  in  view 
the  interests  of  the  whole  nation  ;  as,  opposed  to  "  sectional."  Hence  the 
terms  "  national  sentiments,"  "  national  man,"  etc. 

If  the  little  men  of  the  New  England  States  have,  in  a  furor  of  false  excitement, 
been  able  to  sway  and  guide  the  popular  prejudices  to  their  own  material  and  politi- 
cal elevation,  it  is  satisfactory  to  the  man  of  national  impulses,  to  reflect  that  the 

25 


290  NAT  — NAV 

passions  and  mad  follies  of  the  hour  have  not  been  sufficient  to  tempt  our  most 
gifted  geniuses  and  noble  men  to  forget  the  advantages  and  prospects  which  the 
IFnion  confers  upon  and  promises  to  the  American  people. — Newark  Journal,  1858. 

National  Democrats.  Democrats  who  profess  to  entertain  no  sectional 
preference. 

I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  there  are  two  parties  in  the  South,  called 
"  National "  and  "  States-Rights  "  Democrats.  If  a  Southern  "  National  Demo- 
crat "  means  one  who  is  ready  to  welcome  into  our  ranks  with  open  arms,  and  cor- 
dially embrace  and  promote,  according  to  his  merits,  every  honest  Free  State  man 
who  reads  the  Constitution  as  we  do,  and  will  cooperate  with  us  in  its  maintenance, 
then  I  belong  to  that  party,  call  it  as  you  may,  and  I  should  grieve  to  find  a  South- 
em  man  who  does  not.  —  Speech  of  Hon.  J.  H.  Hammond,  Oct.  27,  1858. 

Native.  At  the  South,  among  uneducated  people,  instead  of  asking, 
"  "What  is  your  native  place,"  or  "  the  place  of  your  nativity,"  the  ques- 
tion is,  "  Where  is  your  native  ?  " 

Native  Americans.  In  speaking  of  the  Native  American  party,  the 
New  York  Express  says  it  originated  as  a  consequence  of  "  a  meeting 
held  in  Carroll  Hall  in  1843,  at  which  Bishop  Hughes  made  a  speech 
relative  to  the  school  system,  and  advocated  a  distinct  organization,  as  a 
party,  of  the  Ii'ish  voters  of  the  metropolis,  in  order  to  accomplish  the 
end  they  had  in  view.  This  was  the  first  attempt  ever  made  in  this 
country  to  organize  citizens  of  foreign  birth,  for  the  purpose  of  operating 
at  the  election  of  any  candidate."  This  gave  rise,  the  year  following,  to 
the  formation  of  a  political  party  to  advocate  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  persons  born  in  the  United  States,  in  opposition  to  those  of  foreigners. 
The  principal  measure  advocated  by  it  was  the  extension  of  the  term  ot 
residence  required  by  law  previous  to  naturalization  from  seven  to 
twenty-one  years.  The  extreme  lengths  to  which  this  party  went  insured 
its  speedy  defeat. 

Ten  years  later  (in  1854),  a  party  sprang  up  with  similar  principles, 
known  first  as  the  Know  Nothing,  and  now  as  the  American  party.  — 
See  Know  Nothings. 

Nativisim.     The  doctrines  of  the  "  Native  Americans,"  as  a  party. 

Naturalized  Citizens.  Those  who  go  through  the  prescribed  process 
for  naturalization ;  their  minor  childi*en  at  that  time  in  the  country ;  or 
the  widows  and  children  of  those  who  have  taken  the  initiatory  steps  for 
naturalization,  but  have  died  before  they  were  actually  naturalized. — 
Hilliard's  Real  Property^  Vol.  H.  p.  190. 

Naval  Officer.  One  of  the  chief  officers  of  the  large  U.  S.  custom- 
houses. It  is  the  duty  of  the  Naval  Officer  to  receive  copies  of  all  mani- 
fests and  entries,  and,  together  with  the  collector,  estimate  all  duties  on 


NEA  — NEG  291 

imports,  and  keep  a  separate  record  thereof;  countersign  all  permits, 
clearances,  certificates,  and  other  documents  granted  by  the  collector ; 
examine  the  collector's  abstract  of  duties,  and  other  accounts  of  receipts, 
bonds,  and  expenditures,  and,  if  found  correct,  to  certify  them.  —  Act  of 
March  2,  1799. 

Neap.  Used  in  some  parts  of  New  England  for  the  tongue  or  pole  of  a 
cart  or  wagon.  —  Worcester. 

Near,  for  to  or  at ;  in  these  expressions :  "  The  minister  plenipotentiary 
tiear  the  Court  of  St.  James's  —  near  the  United  States,"  etc.  This  Gal- 
licism was  first  used  here  in  translations  of  the  diplomatic  correspond- 
ence between  the  French  and  American  governments  ;  and  from  the  lan- 
guage of  translations  it  has  been  adopted  in  many  of  our  original  compo- 
sitions. —  Pickenng. 

Neck  of  the  Woods.  In  the  wooded  sections  of  the  South-West  this 
term  is  used  in  speaking  of  any  settlement,  place,  or  plantation. 

I  am  the  only  subscriber  to  the  Spirit  of  the  Times  in  this  neck  of  woods,  and  con- 
sequently my  paper  is  in  great  requisition.  — Letter  from  Arkansas,  N.  Y.  Spirit  of 
the  Times. 

It 's  no  use  talkin'  about  your  Polar  bar  and  your  grizzly  bar.  They  ain't  no 
whar,  for  the  big  black  customer  down  in  our  neck  o'  the  woods  beats  'em  all  hol- 
low.— Traits  of  American  Humor,  Vol.  11. 

Negro.  The  various  grades  of  the  colored  people  in  Louisiana  are  desig- 
nated by  the  French  as  follows,  according  to  the  greater  or  less  predomi- 
nance of  negro  blood : 

Mulatto,         .         .         .         white  and  negro. 

Quarteron,         .         .         .     white  and  mulatto. 

Metif,  .         .         .         wliite  and  quarteron. 

Mamelouc,         .         .         .     white  and  metif. 

Quarteron,     .         .         .         white  and  mamelouc. 

Sang-mele,        .         .         .     white  and  quarteron. 

Grifie,  ....         negro  and  mulatto. 

Marabou,  .         .         .     mulatto  and  griffe. 

Sacatra,         .         .         .         grifie  and  negress. 
All  these  varieties  exist  in  New  Orleans  with  sub-varieties,  and  experts 
pretend  to  be  able  to  distinguish  them.  —  Olmsted's  Slave  States,  p.  583. 

Negro  Fellow.    A  black  man. 

The  price  of  negroes  has  already  reached  that  point  which  is  beyond  the  means  of 
small  planters,  and  they  cannot  afford  to  invest  their  small  amounts  of  spare  capital 
in  a  species  of  property  that  may  be  swept  away  by  the  diseases  of  the  climate,  per- 
haps the  very  next  week  after  its  purchase ;  and  thus  in  the  loss  of  one  negro  fellow, 
a  three  years'  saving  is  gone  with  him.  — De  Bow's  Review,  Nov.  1858. 


292  NEG  — NIG 

Negro  Minstrels.  Men  who  with  blackened  faces  give  concerts  con- 
sisting of  negro  songs,  interspersed  with  negro  jokes,  etc. 

Neighborhood.  The  phrase,  in  the  neighborhood  of,  is  frequently  used 
to  mean  bordering  on,  near,  about. 

The  Catholic  clergy  of  this  city  have  purchased  in  the  neighborhood  q/"  forty  acres  of 
land  from  Mr.  Fenwick,  for  a  cemetery  for  the  use  of  the  Catholic  congregations  of 
Washington.  —  (BoZf.)  Sun,  June  27,  1857. 

Net  OP.  "  This  Indian  word,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  "  is  still  used,  collo- 
quially, in  some  towns  in  the  interior  of  Massachusetts,  to  signify  a 
friend,  or  (to  use  a  cant  word)  a  crony."  Roger  Williams,  in  his  Key 
to  the  Lidian  Language,  says,  "  What  cheer,  netop  ?  is  the  general  salu- 
tation of  all  English  towards  the  Indians."  The  word  is  Narragansett, 
and  means  literally,  "  my  friend." 

New  Jersey  Tea.  (^Geanothus  americanus.)  The  leaves  of  this  plant 
were  employed  during  the  Revolution  as  a  poor  substitute  for  imported 
tea. 

Nicely.  In  some  parts  of  New  England  used,  like  "  cleverly,"  in  the  sense 
of  well,  very  well.  Ex.  "  How 's  your  wife,  Mr.  Peabody,  this  fine 
morning  ?  "     "  She 's  nicely." 

Nick.  The  name  abeady  given  to  the  new  cent,  from  the  material  (nickel) 
of  which  it  is  composed. 

The  Philadelphia  Bulletin,  in  speaking  of  the  first  delivery  of  the  new 
cents  at  the  U.  S.  mint,  and  of  the  rush  for  them,  says : 

The  bags  containing  the  nicks  were  neat  little  canvas  arrangements,  each  of  vrhich 
held  five  hundred  of  the  diininutive  strangers. — May  25,  1857. 

The  new  cent  creates  quite  a  furor.  It  is  a  neat,  handy  coin,  and  will  soon  sup- 
plant the  cumbersome  copper  one.  "  Nary  red  "  will  soon  be  an  obsolete  phrase 
among  the  boys,  and  "  nary  nickel "  will  take  its  place.  — New  York  Herald,  May 
27,  1857. 

Nigger.     The  vulgar  pronunciation  of  the  word  negro. 

Nigger  Heads.  The  tussocks  or  knotted  masses  of  the  roots  of  sedges 
and  ferns  projecting  above  the  wet  surface  of  a  swamp.     South. 

To  Nigger  out.  To  nigger  out  land,  signifies,  in  Southern  phraseology, 
to  exhaust  land  by  the  mode  of  tilling  without  fertilization  pursued  in  the 
slave  States. 

Nigh  unto.    Nearly,  almost. 

I  ni(jh  unto  burst  with  madness !  I  could  feel  every  har  on  my  head  kindliu'  at  the 
eend.  — Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

Nigh  upon.     Nearly,  almost. 


NIM  — NOA  293 

I  got  your  letter  and  razor-strap.  It 's  a  complete  strap  as  you  ever  see  ;  and  as 
soon  as  it  was  known  about  here  that  I  had  received  it,  nigh  upon  all  our  folks  have 
been  sendin'  to  borrow  it.  — Maj.  Downing,  Letter  27. 

Mr.  Bedott  had  been  out  of  health  nigh  upon  ten  year ;  and  O  dear,  how  he  'd  al- 
tered since  the  first  time  I  ever  see  him.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  22. 

NiMSHi.  A  foolish  fellow,  or  one  who  habitually  acts  in  a  foolish  manner. 
Connecticut. 

Nine-Bark.  (Spiraa  opulifolia.)  A  low  shrub  found  in  Maine,  Canada, 
Wisconsin,  and  west  to  Oregon.  Its  old  bark  is  loose,  and  separates  in 
thin  layers. 

Nine-Kill  EK.  The  popular  name  of  the  Northern  Butcher-bird  (Lanius 
septentrionalis)  of  ox*nithologists.  In  Canada  and  the  Eastern  States  it 
is  sometimes  called  Mocking-bird.  " The  name  of  nine-killer"  says  Dr. 
DeKay,  "  is  derived  from  the  popular  belief  that  it  catches  and  impales 
nine  grasshoppers  in  a  day."  — Nat.  Hist,  of  New  York. 

Nip.     a  dram. 

Nip  and  Tuck.  An  expression  signifying  an  equality,  or  nearly  so,  in 
any  strife,  but  particularly  in  a  horse-race  or  a  game,  equivalent  to  the 
phrase,  "  neck  and  neck." 

"  Nathan,"  said  a  prudent  father,  "  now  you  're  goin'  down  to  Orleans,  I  've  just 
one  thing  to  advise  you  on.  Do  n't  play  that  new  game  they  've  got  where  the 
jack  takes  the  ace  —  't  aint  natural.  I  tried  'em  at  poker,  and  old  sledge,  and  loo, 
but  they  could  n't  get  me  down,  it  was  nip  and  tuck  between  us  ;  but  by  and  by  they 
fotched  in  that  new  game,  and  then  I  hollered.  — Major  Bunkum,  Recollections. 

NiPPENT.     Impudent ;  impertinent.  — HurtTs  Cham.  Corrector. 

Nipping.     Mincing. 

O,  deary  me,  it 's  enough  to  make  anybody  sick  to  see  the  airs  Mrs.  Major  Coon 
puts  on.  Did  you  see  her  come  nippin'  into  meetin  with  a  shawl  on  as  big  as  a  bed- 
cover?—  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  35. 

No  —  NOT.  What  the  Portuguese  say  of  the  Brazilians,  the  English  say  of 
the  Americans,  —  that  they  are  as  fond  of  double  negatives  as  Homer 
himself.  "  I  won't  no  how,"  "  it  ain't  neither,"  "  I  ain't  got  none,"  "  it 
ain't  nothing  else,"  etc.,  are  locutions  constantly  heard. 

No-account.  Of  no  account,  worthless ;  as  " That's  a  no-account,  chap  I 
reckon ! "     "  Where  did  you  raise  that  no-account  horse  ?  "     South-west. 

"  Miss  Bella  done  learn  how  to  talk,"  said  Sarah,  in  the  kitchen  cabinet,  "  and 
she  look  as  rosy  and  peart !  her  heart  ain't  broke  !  " 

"  Broke  wid  what  ■?  "  asked  aunt  Hagar.  "  I  alwayth  telled  you  that  no  young 
mith  of  mine  wath  given  to  hurt  herthelf  grieving  after  a  no-account  feller  like  that 
down  yonder  in  Eichmond."  — The  Hidden  Path. 

25* 


294  NOC  — NON 

No  CAKE.     An  Indian  word  still  used  in  some  parts  of  New  England. 

If  their  imperious  occasions  cause  the  Indians  to  travel,  the  best  of  their  victuals 
for  their  journey  is  nocahe  (as  they  call  it),  which  is  nothing  but  Indian  corn  parched 
in  the  hot  ashes ;  the  ashes  being  sifted  from  it,  it  is  afterwards  beaten  to  powder, 
and  put  into  a  long  leathern  bag,  trussed  at  their  back  like  a  knapsack ;  out  of 
which  they  take  thrice  three  spoonfuls  a  day.  —  Wood's  New  England's  Prospect, 
1634. 

No-HOW.     Not  in  any  way ;  by  no  means.     Always  with  a  preceding  neg- 
ative, and  sometimes  enlarged  into,  "no  how  you  can  fix  it" 

Dod  rot  that  old  Mike  Hooter.    He  per  tend  to  be  a  preacher  !    His  preachin'  ain't 
nothin'  but  loud  hollerin'  no  how.  — Tales  of  American  Humor. 
You  don't  cook  broken  down  horse-flesh  very  easy,  no  how.  — G.  W.  Kendall. 
Miss  Sikes  had  better  not  come  a  cavortin'  round  me  with  any  of  her  rantanke- 
rous  carryin'  on ;  for  I  ain't  in  no  humor,  no  how.  — Stoi'i/  of  the  Fire  Hunt. 

NOMOLOGiCAL.     Relating  to  nomology. 

The  observations  of  the  senses  yield  us  only  limited  successions  and  recurrences 
of  phenomena.  These  have  antecedence  in  the  order  of  time.  But  Law,  eternal, 
absolute,  and  universal,  has  antecedence  in  the  order  of  necessary  existence,  and  is 
an  idea  of  the  Reason.  It  is  the  Idea  of  Ideas  under  the  nomological  conception.  — 
Tappan's  Elements  of  Logic. 

Nomology.     That  branch  of  philosophy  which  treats  of  law  in  general. 

This  at  once  introduces  us  to  the  Doctrine  of  Law  or  Nomology,  which  is  the  sec- 
ond grand  division  of  philosophy.  — Tappan's  Elements  of  Logic. 

Non-committal.     That  does  not  commit  or  pledge  himself  to  any  particu- 
lar measure.     A  political  term  in  frequent  use. 

A  successful  politician  here  [in  New  York]  is  either  a  hack  lawyer  of  thirty  years' 
standing,  or  an  upstart  demagogue,  who  has  made  his  way  by  dint  of  sheer  brass ; 
either  a  blind  partisan,  who  knows  nothing  outside  the  regular  ticket,  or  a  non-com- 
mittal man,  who  says  every  thing  to  everybody,  and  never  gave  an  intelligent,  man- 
ly, straight-forward  opinion  in  his  life.  — Sketches  of  American  Society,  Frazer's  Mag- 
azine. 

Non-committalism.     The  practice  or  doctrine  of  not  committing  oneself. 

Much  of  what  Governor  W says  in  his  message  is  made  feeble  by  diffuse- 

ness  ;  and  on  many  points  he  either  avoids  the  expression  of  opinion,  or  expresses 
his  opinion  with  so  many  qualifications  as  to  subject  himself  to  the  charge  of  non- 
committalism.  —  N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser. 

He,  being  somewhat  of  a  wag,  handed  me  "  Feame  on  Contingent  Remainders," 
which  he  remarked,  with  admirable  non-committalism,  was  as  interesting  as  a  novel, 
after  one  got  interested  in  it.  —  My  Uncle  Hobson  and  I,  p.  20. 

Non-election.     Failure  of  election.  —  Webster. 

Non-manufacturing.     Not  carrying  on  manufactures;  as,  "non-manu- 
facturing  States."  —  Webster. 

NoN-SLAVEHOLDiNG.      Not  holding   slaves.     Thus,  the  States  north  of 


NOO— NOR  295 

Mason  and  Dixon's  line  are  frequently  designated  as    the  "  non-slave- 
holding  States." 

Noodles.  (Germ,  nudel.)  Dumplings  or  vermicelli.  They  are  used  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  are  made  by  rolling  into  very  thin  sheets  the  dough, 
which  differs  from  the  Italian  preparation  by  the  addition  of  eggs. 
These  sheets  are  then  rolled  up  and  cut  across  with  a  knife.  The  strips 
thus  formed  differ  from  vermicelli  only  in  their  section  being  square,  in- 
stead of  circular. 

NooDLEJEES.  (Dutch.)  Wheat  dough  roUed  thin  and  cut  into  strings 
like  vermicelli. 

NooDLE-Soup.     Soup  made  of  the  above. 

Nopal.  A  cabbage  palm,  similar  to  a  yucca ;  cooked  and  eaten  by  Mexi- 
cans. 

North  and  South.  Terms  commonly  used  to  signify  the  Northern  and 
Southern,  or  the  free  and  slave  States,  of  the  Union. 

The  North,  in  an  unrestrained  intercourse  with  the  South,  protected  by 
the  equal  laws  of  a  common  government,  finds  in  the  productions  of  the 
latter,  great  additional  resources  of  maritime  and  commercial  enterprise, 
and  precious  materials  of  manufacturing  industry.  The  South,  in  the 
same  intercourse,  benefiting  by  the  agency  of  the  North,  sees  its  agricul- 
ture grow  and  its  commerce  expand.  —  Speech  of  Hon.  E.  Everett,  July 
5,  1858. 

North  Americans.  The  Northern  or  anti-slavery  section  of  the  Ameri- 
can or  Know  Nothing  Party. 

Northern  Neck.  The  portion  of  Virginia  lying  between  the  Potomac 
and  the  Rappahannock. 

Norther.  A  severe  north  wind  which  blows  at  particular  seasons  along 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  as  well  as  across  the  vast  region  lying  to  the  north 
of  it.  These  northers  upon  the  open  prairies  are  exceedingly  trying,  and, 
when  accompanied  by  snow  or  a  freezing  rain,  prove  fatal  to  cattle  and 
horses.  Teamsters,  herdsmen,  and  travellers  have  also  been  known,  in 
many  instances,  to  perish.  I  experienced  a  terrific  norther  on  the  high 
plateau  of  Texas  in  November,  1850,  which  was  accompanied  by  snow, 
and  lasted  for  three  days. 

Mr.  Olmsted,  in  his  "Journey  through  Texas,"  thus  describes  one 
of  these -norfAers: 

"We  were  suffering  with  the  heat,  when  one  of  us  said,  "  See  this  before  xis,  — 
what  is  it,  fog  or  smoke  1 " 


296  NOR  — NOT 

"  A  prairie  fire,  I  think,"  said  the  other. 

"  Probably  it  is ;  but  what  is  this  on  the  liill  close  by ;  tliis  is  fog,  surely  ?  It 
must  be  a  norther  coining.  Yes,  it  is  a  norther  ;  listen  to  that  roar  !  We  must  get 
our  clotliing  on,  or  we  shall  be  chilled  through." 

First,  a  chilly  whifF,  then  a  pufF,  the  grass  bends  flat ;  and,  bang,  it  is  upon 
us,  —  a  blast  that  would  have  taken  a  top-gallant  sail  out  of  the  bolt-ropes ;  and 
cold  as  if  blowing  across  a  sea  of  ice.  We  galloped  to  the  nearest  ravine,  and  hur- 
ried on  all  the  clothing  we  could  muster.  Fortunately,  though  our  baggage  was 
left  behind,  we  had  taken  a  supply  of  blankets,  etc.  —  p.  168. 

Northerner.    A  citizen  of  one  of  the  Northern  or  non-slaveholding 
States. 

Notch.     An  opening  or  narrow  passage  through  a  mountain  or  hill.  — 
Webster.     The  Notch  in  the  White  Mountains  is  well  known. 

This  gap  is  not  a  notch  qf  depression  in  the  crest  of  a  continuous  ridge,  but  the 
extension  of  the  plain  narrowed  down  by  bare,  rugged  peaks  of  almost  solid  rock, 
rising  abruptly  from  the  plain.  —  Rep.  on  Pacific  Rail-Road,  Vol.  II. 

Passing  down  the  Chemung  and  Susquehanna  in  canoes,  they  landed,  and  struck 
through  the  wilderness  to  a  gap  or  notch  of  the  mountains,  by  which  they  entei-ed 
the  Valley  of  Wyoming.  —  Irving' s  Washington,  Vol.  III.  p.  468. 

Nothing  else.     " It  ain't  nothing  else"  is  a  vulgar  style  of  phraseology 
equivalent  to  "  It 's  that,  and  no  mistake." 
3fose,     "  Lize,  ain't  you  a  gallows  gall "?  " 
Lize.     "I  ain't  nothing  else,  Mose."  —  Neio  York  in  1848. 

Nothing  to  Nobody.     Nobody's  business.     This  singular  expression  is 
common  in  the  language  of  the  illiterate  in  some  parts  of  the  South. 

But  surely  no  lady  drank  punch  1  Yes,  three  of  them  did,  ....  and  the  way 
these  women  love  punch  is  nothing  to  nobody.  —  Georgia  Scenes. 

The  way  she  would  make  Indian  cakes,  and  the  way  I  used  to  slick  them  over 
with  molasses,  was  nothing  to  nobody.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times, 

To  Notify.     1.  To  make  known ;  to  declare  ;  to  publish.     "  The  laws  of 
God  notify  to  man  his  will  and  our  duty." 

2.  To  give  information  of.  "  The  allied  sovereigns  have  notified  the 
Spanish  court  of  their  purpose  of  maintaining  legitimate  government." 

3.  To  give  notice  to.  "The  constable  has  notified  the  citizens  to 
meet  at  the  City  Hall."     "  The  bell  notijies  us  of  the  time  of  meeting." 

The  first  of  these  senses,  as  Dr.  Witherspoon  long  ago  observed 
(Druid,  No,  5),  is  the  only  one  in  which  this  word  is  employed  by  Eng- 
lish writers.  They  use  it  simply  in  the  sense  of  the  Latin  notijicare, 
i.  e.  "  to  make  known,"  as  in  the  following  examples  from  Richardson  : 

His  [Duke  Robert's]  worthie  acts  valientlie  and  fortunately  atchicved  against  the 
infidels,  are  notified  to  the  world  by  many  and  sundrie  writers.  —  Holinshed. 

Such  protest  must  also  be  notified,  within  fourteen  days  after,  to  the  drawer.  — 
Blackstone's  Commentaries. 


NOT  — NUL  297 

The  two  significations,  Nos.  2  and  3,  in  which  the  direct  object  of  the 
verb  is  the  person,  instead  of  the  thing,  is  in  accordance  with  the  French 
use  of  the  verb  notijier.  It  is  not  improbable  that  they  will  yet  be 
adopted  in  England  ;  for  the  same  transfer  of  the  idea  from  the  thing  to 
the  person  took  place  in  the  Latin  language  itself,  in  which  the  word 
nottis,  known,  was  also  used  in  the  sense  of  informed  of,  knowing. 

Notional.     Fanciful,  whimsical.     Applied  to  persons ;  as,  "  He 's  a  very 
notional  man."     New  England. 

NOTIONATE.     Fanciful,  whimsical.     West. 

Notions.     Small  wares  or  trifles. —  Worcester.     A  word  much  used  by 
the  ingenious  New  Englanders. 

"  Can  I  suit  you  to-day,  ma'am  ?  "  said  a  peddler  from  New  England,  when  offer- 
ing his  wares  for  sale  in  Michigan.  "I've  all  sorts  of  notions.  Here's  fashionable 
calicoes ;  French  work  collars  and  capes ;  elegant  milk-pans,  and  HanTson  skim- 
mers, and  ne  plus  ultry  dippers !  patent  pills,  —  cure  any  thing  you  like ;  ague  bitters ; 
Shaker  yarbs  ;  essences,  wintergreen,  lobely ;  tapes,  pins,  needles,  hooks  and  eyes  ; 
broaches  and  bracelets  ;  smelling-bottles ;  castor  ile ;  corn-plaster ;  mustard ;  gar- 
ding-seeds  ;  silver  spoons  ;  pocket-combs ;  tea-pots  ;  green  tea ;  saleratus  ;  tracts ; 
song-books  ;  thimbles  ;  baby's  whistles ;  slates  ;  playin'  cards ;  puddin'  sticks ; 
baskets  ;  wooden  bowls ;  powder  and  shot.  I  shan't  offer  you  lucifei's,  for  ladies 
with  such  eyes  never  buys  matches,  —  but  you  can't  ask  me  for  any  thing  I  haven't 
got,  I  guess."  —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life,  Vol.  II.  p.  113. 

He  has  invented -several  other  important  wooden  notions  out  of  his  own  head ;  and 
MuflSns  says  there  is  enough  left  to  invent  a  good  many  more.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of 
the  Times. 

Nowhere.     To  be  nowhere  is  to  be  at  sea ;  to  be  utterly  at  a  loss ;  to  be 
ignorant. 

This  gentleman  has  been  for  some  years  at  the  head  of  this  institution,  the  special 
business  of  wliich  is  to  educate  teachers  who  shall  be  employed  in  the  subordinate 
public  schools  ;  and  it  has  just  been  ascertained  that  he  is  lamentably  ignorant  of 
the  rudiments  of  an  English  education ;  in  short,  that  in  "  first  principles  "  he  is  no- 
where. — Boston  Bee. 

Nub.     1.  A  Knob.    New  England. 

2.  The  nuh  of  a  story  is  the  point  or  gist  of  it. 

Nubbins.    Imperfectly  formed  ears  of  Indian  com. 

"  Aunt  Peggy  brought  in  some  of  the  early  com  this  morning,  mother.  Did  you 
see  it  ? " 

"  Yes,  your  father  says  it  is  a  humbug.  There  are  nothing  but  little  nubbins,  with 
not  more  than  a  dozen  grains  to  the  ear.'-' 

Precisely  such  badly  filled  nubbins  your  children's  minds  are  fated  to  become,  if  you 
adopt  the  forcing,  hot-bed  system  with  them.  —  The  Hidden  Path. 

Nullification.     Some  years  ago,  when  the  system  of  high  protective 


298  NUL  — OAK 

duties  on  foreign  imports  was  predominant  in  the  national  councils,  the 
politicians  of  South  Carolina  —  whose  main  article  of  export  is  cotton 
—  were  strongly  desirous  of  free  trade  with  England  and  France,  the 
principal  consumers  of  that  article  believing  that  the  consumption  of  it 
in  those  countries  would  be  augmented  by  an  augmentation  of  the  import 
of  their  fabrics.  Those  politicians  thought  themselves  aggrieved  there- 
fore by  the  protection  given  in  the  United  States  to  the  manufacture  of 
fabrics  coming  into  competition  with  those  of  England  and  France. 
But  finding  Congress  resolute  in  adhering  to  the  protective  tariff,  the 
South  Carolina  politicians  became  so  exasperated  that  at  last  they  pro- 
claimed their  intention  to  nullify  the  tariff,  —  that  is,  to  admit  British 
and  French  goods  into  their  ports  free  of  duty,  and  not  to  permit  the  ex- 
ercise of  custom-house  functions  in  their  State.  In  other  words,  nuUi' 
fication,  in  the  case  of  South  Carolina,  was  simply  an  act,  or  at  least  a 
threat,,  of  open  rebellion. 

Somebody  must  go  ahead,  and  look  after  these  matters  to  keep  down  nulUJication, 
and  take  care  of  the  Gineral  [Jackson]  when  he  gits  into  his  tantrums,  and  keep 
the  great  democratic  party  from  splitting  in  two.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  218. 

Ndllifier.  One  who  believes  in  or  maintains  the  right  of  a  State  to 
refuse  compliance  with  a  law  enacted  by  the  legislature  of  the  whole 
Union. 

This  term  was  also  applied  to  a  sort  of  shoe,  made  hke  a  decapitated 
boot,  brought  into  fashion  in  the  "  nullification  "  times* 

NuRLY.    A  corrupt  pronunciation  and  orthography  of  gnarly,  i.  e.  gnarled. 
Times  are  mopish  and  nurly,  —  Margaret,  p.  314. 

Nutmeg  State.  A  nickname  given  to  the  State  of  Connecticut,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  story  that  wooden  nutmegs  are  there  manufactured  for  expor- 
tation. 


O. 


Oak  Barrens.  Straggling  forests  of  oak  trees,  where  the  soil  is  very 
poor,  and  the  trees  small,  stunted,  and  gnarled.  The  oak  barrens  differ 
from  the  "  oak  openings,"  inasmuch  as  the  latter  are  usually  on  good  soil, 
and  hence  thrifty. 

Our  march  to-day  lay  through  straggling  forests  of  the  kind  of  low,  scrubbed 
trees,  called  post-oaks  and  black-jacks.  The  soil  of  these  oak  barrens  is  loose  and 
unsound  ;  being  little  better  than  a  mere  quicksand ;  in  which,  in  rainy  weather,  the 
horse's  foot  slips,  and  now  and  then  sinks  in  a  rotten,  spongy  turf,  to  the  fetlock.  — 
Irving's  Tour  on  the  Prairies,  p.  95, 


OAK  — OF  299 

Oak  Openings.  A  characteristic  feature  in  all  the  North-western  States 
are  the  oak  openings.  These  are  forests  of  short,  thinly  scattered  oak 
trees.  The  trees  are  so  diminutive  that  generally  but  one  length  for 
rails  can  be  cut  between  the  ground  and  the  limbs.     See  Opening. 

The  grounds  about  the  mounds  are  covered  with  scattered  oak  trees,  commonly 
called  oak  openings,  and  thickly  overgrown  with  small  bushes.  —  Lapham's  Antiqs.  oj 
Wisconsin,  p.  31. 

Having  passed  the  skirt  of  the  woodlands,  we  ascended  the  hills,  taking  a  course 
through  the  oak  openings,  where  the  eye  stretched  over  wide  tracts  of  hill  and  dale, 
diversified  by  forests,  groves,  and  clumps  of  trees.  —  Irving' s  Tour  on  the  Prairies, 
p.  77. 

Obliged  to  be.  Must  be ;  as,  "  This  is  obliged  to  he  a  fever  and  ague 
country."     Comp.  the  analogous  vulgarism,  "  hound  to  be." 

Obligement.  This  antiquated  word  is  still  used  by  old  people  in  New 
England.  —  Pickering. 

Obscutelt.     Obliquely.     A  factitious  word  used  in  New  England. 

Obtusitt.     Obtuseness.     New  England. 

To  Occasion,  or  'Casion.  To  go  about  asking  for  work  ;  i.  e.  to  ask  if 
employers  have  any  occasion  for  one's  services.     Maryland. 

Occupying  Claimant.  One  who  claims  land  by  virtue  of  occupation 
of  the  same  under  the  land  systems  of  various  States. 

Ocelot.  (Mexican,  ocelotl.)  A  beautiful  but  savage  animal,  holding  a 
middle  rank  between  the  leopard  and  the  common  cat,  the  Felis  pardalus 
of  Linnaeus.  The  body  is  about  three  feet  in  length,  and  the  tail  about 
one;  height,  about  eighteen  inches.  It  is  a  native  of  various  parts  of 
South  America,  and  is  thought  to  extend  as  far  north  as  Texas.  Called 
also  Tiger  Cat. 

Odd  Stick.  An  eccentric  person,  an  "  odd  fish."  "  John  Randolph  was 
an  odd  stick." 

Of.  1.  An  action  of  the  organs  of  sense  may  be  either  involimtary  or  vol- 
untary. Accordingly  we  say  to  see,  to  hear,  to  denote  an  involuntary 
act ;  and  to  look  at,  to  hearken  or  listen  to,  to  denote  a  voluntary  one. 
With  regard  to  the  other  senses,  we  are  not  so  well  provided  with  words ; 
but  some  people,  prompted  apparently  by  a  feeling  of  this  deficiency, 
endeavor  to  supply  it  by  construing  the  verbs  to  feel,  to  taste,  to  smell, 
with  the  preposition  of,  to  signify  a  voluntary  act.  Hence  to  feel,  taste, 
smell  of  a  thing,  is  to  do  so  intentionally.  This  corruption  is  rarely  met 
with  in  writing. 


800  OFF 

In  the  course  of  the  forenoon,  a  few  women  came  around  our  tent,  fdt  of  it, 
and  peeped  through  the  cracks  to  see  Mrs.  Perkins.  —  Perkins's  Residence  in  Persia, 
p.  103. 

2.  In  the  colloquial  language  of  New  England,  this  preposition,  fre- 
quently corrupted  into  on,  is  used  after  a  gerund  or  active  participle  ;  as, 
"  Ebenezer  is  coming  to  stick  our  pig ;  but  he  '11  want  a  quarter  for  doin* 
of  it  (or  on  it)." 

Whereas,  many  negroes  and  other  slaves  absent  themselves  from  their  masters' 
service,  and  run  out  into  the  woods  and  there  remain,  killing  and  destroying  of  hogs 
and  cattle  belonging  unto  the  people  of  tliis  province,  &c.  —  Maryland  Statutes. 
Act  of  1751. 

Off  the  Handle.  To  Jly  off  the  handle  is  to  fly  into  a  passion.  To  go 
off  the  handle  is  to"  give  up  the  ghost,  to  die.  The  allusion  is  to  the 
head  of  an  axe. 

A  poor  man  in  this  city  had  a  fortune  left  him  by  a  distant  and  wealthy  relative, 
who  went  off  the  handle  in  England,  rather  unexpectedly.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Offal.  *  This  word,  among  pork-butchers  and  curers  in  the  West,  implies 
the  liver  and  lights,  or  more  technically  the  head  and  pluck,  liver,  «S:c., 
of  the  animal ;  whereas,  in  correct  English,  it  is  limited  to  the  refuse 
thrown  to  the  dogs.  An  Engli.sh  reader  would  be  much  shocked  at  the 
mention  of  a  dish  of  offal. 

Office-holder.  A  government  oflScial.  Used  frequently  as  a  term  of 
reproach. 

Office-holding.     The  holding  of  an  oflSce  under  government. 

Office-hunter.     A  seeker  after  public  office. 

Office-hunting.  A  seeking  after  public  office.  That  both  the  practice 
and  the  name  for  it  are  acquiring  all  the  respectability  that  age  can  be- 
stow, is  evident  from  the  date  of  the  following  extract : 

Office-hunting.  —  The  decease  of  Col.  Freeman,  late  Fourth  Auditor  of  the  Treas- 
ury, the  salary  of  which  is  $3,000  a  year,  has  caused  a  great  stir  at  Washington. 
There  are  said  to  be  about  fifty  applicants  for  the  place,  among  whom  are  a  dozen 
or  two  members  of  Congress.  —  Niles's  Register,  March  20,  1824. 

Offish.     Distant  or  unapproachable  in  manners. 

Offset.  In  accounts,  a  sum,  account,  or  value  set  off  against  another  sum 
or  account,  as  an  equivalent.  —  Webster. 

This  word  is  generally  used  in  place  of  the  English  term  set-off.  IVIr. 
Pickering  says,  "it  is  also  very  common  in  popular  language,  in  the 
sense  of  an  equivalent."  None  of  the  English  dictionaries  have  the 
word  in  any  sense  except  that  of  "  shoot  from  a  plant." 


OFF  — OLD  301 

The  expense  of  the  frigates  had  been  strongly  urged  ;  but  the  saving  in  insurance, 
in  ships  and  cargoes,  and  the  ransom  of  seamen,  was  more  than  an  offset  against  this 
item.  — Marshall's  Washington. 

Thanksgiving  was  an  anti-Christmas  festival,  established  as  a  kind  of  offset  to 
that. — Margaret,  p.  61. 

To  Offset.  To  set  one  account  against  another ;  to  make  the  account  of 
one  party  pay  the  demand  of  another.  —  Webster. 

Ojo  (pron.  oho).  This  Spanish  term  means  an  eye,  and  figuratively  a 
spring  in  a  plain.  In  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  California,  these  springs 
greet  the  thirsty  traveller  as  the  oases  do  in  Africa.  A  few  rushes  or 
rank  grass,  rising  above  the  sterile  wastes,  guide  him  to  the  spot. 

Okra.  (Hibiscus  esculentis.)  A  tropical  plant,  the  pods  of  which  are 
used  in  the  mucilaginous  soup  called  gumbo.  —  Worcester. 

Old  Country.  A  term  applied  to  Great  Britain,  originally  by  natives 
from  that  country,  but  now  understood  and  used  generally  in  the  United 
States. 

JVIr.  Goodrich,  in  describing  the  people  of  New  England  at  the  period 
of  the  Revolution,  says : 

The  Episcopalians  had  indeed  one  more  tie  than  other  men  to  the  old  country,  and 
that  was  a  powerful  one.  England  was  not  only  their  mother  in  things  secular,  but 
in  things  sacred.  — Vol.  I.  p.  192. 

Old  Countryman.  A  native  of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  or  Wales. 
The  term  is  never  applied  to  persons  from  the  continent  of  Europe. 

Oldermost.     Oldest.     Used  at  the  "West. 

Ain't  that  oldermost  stranger  a  kinder  sort  a  preacher  ?  — Carleton,  The  New  Pur- 
chase, Vol.  II.  p.  70. 

Old  Dominion.  The  State  of  Virginia.  Sometimes  called  the  "  Ancient 
Dominion."  The  name  probably  arose  from  the  circumstance  that  Vir- 
ginia was  the  original  name  for  all  the  English  colonies  in  America. 

Old  Hickory.  A  nickname  applied  to  General  Jackson,  in  allusion  to 
his  tough,  unyielding  disposition. 

Old  Hoss.  A  familiar  expression  used  in  accosting  a  person,  equivalent 
to  "  old  fellow."     "Western. 

Old  hoss,  when  analyzed,  is  found  to  be  the  tenderest  appellation  of  a  biped  juvenile 
without  hoofs.  — Speech  of  Samuel  H.  Cox. 

Old  Man.  1.  Tlie  old  man  is  a  term  more  common  than  respectful,  used 
by  "  Young  America  "  for  father. 

2.   In  the  South  and  "West,  instead  of  saying,  for  instance,  "  Old  Mr. 
Smith,"  it  is  customary  to  say,  "  Old  man  Smith." 
26 


302  OLD  — ONH 

Old  Pod.    An  old  man. 

Old  Rte.     Old  whiskey  distilled  from  rye. 

I  do  n't  know  whether  Mark  took  a  drop  or  not ;  but  they  generally  keep  a  barrel  of 
old  rye  in  the  lumber  shanties,  and  my  opinion  is  that  he  was  invited  to  take  a  hom. 
— Hammond,  Wild  Northern  Scenes,  p.  198. 

Old  Sledge.  A  Southern  and  Western  name  for  the  game  at  cards  com- 
monly called  All  Fours. 

I  played  a  pretty  stiff  game  of  old  sledge,  or,  as  he  called  it,  all  fours ;  for  I  played 
every  night.  — Simms,  Wigwam  and  Cabin,  p.  88. 

With  professional  flat-boatmen  their  acme  of  felicity  is  a  game  of  old  sledge  enli- 
vened by  the  fiddle.  — Remembrances  of  the  Mississippi,  Harper's  Magazine. 

Old-Wife,  or  Old-Squaw.  (Anas  glacialis.)  The  popular  name  of  a 
brown  duck,  one  of  the  most  common  throughout  North  America,  the 
Long-tailed  Duck  of  Pennant. 

Oltcook.  (Dutch,  oliekoek,  oil-cake.)  A  cake  fried  in  lard.  A  favorite 
delicacy  with  the  Dutch,  and  also  with  their  descendants  in  New  York. 
There  are  various  kinds,  as  dough-nuts,  crullers,  etc. 

The  table  was  always  sure  to  boast  of  an  enormous  dish  of  balls  of  sweetened 
dough,  fried  in  hogs-fiit,  and  called  dough-nuts  or  oli/koeks.  — Knickerbocker's  New 
York. 

Once  and  again.  Occasionally,  sometimes.  A  Southern  phrase,  equi- 
valent to  "  once  in  a  while." 

On  eend,  i.  e.  on  end.     Excited,  astonished,  enraged. 

One-horse.  In  the  West,  by  an  obvious  agricultural  figure,  this  term  is 
applied  to  any  thing  small  or  diminutive,  as  a  "  one-horse  bank,"  a 
"  one-horse  church,"  meaning  a  little  bank  or  church.  So  the  phrase 
"  one-horse  lawyer  "  is  applied  to  a  mean,  pettifogging  fellow.  A  clergy- 
man, deprecating  the  use  of  such  expressions  as  "  confound  it,"  called  them 
^^  one-horse  oaths." 

Every  State  in  the  Union  should  rigidly  proscribe  and  prohibit  the  establishment 
of  the  wild-cat  and  one-horse  banking  concerns  which  have  produced  so  much  mis- 
chief, and  brought  discredit  on  all  banking  institutions.  — New  York  Sun. 

On  Friday  last  the  engineer  of  a  fast  train  was  arrested  by  the  autliorities  of  a 
one-horse  town  in  Dauphin  county,  Pa.,  for  running  through  the  borough  at  a  greater 
rate  of  speed  than  is  allowed  by  their  ordinances.  Having  neglected,  however,  to 
give  publicity  to  these  ordinances,  they  could  not  impose  any  fine ;  and  their  discom- 
fiture was  aggravated  by  the  malicious  excuse  of  the  engineer,  that  "  he  did  n't 
know  there  was  a  town  there  !"  — (  Wash.)  Evening  Star,  1858. 

On  hand.  At  hand,  present.  A  colloquial  expression,  borrowed  from  the 
shop,  in  frequent  use» 


ONT— ONY  303 

The  anti-Sabbath  meeting,  so  long  talked  of,  has  at  length  taken  place  in  Boston. 
About  tliree  hundred  females  were  on  hand.  — N.  Y.  Express. 

If  our  numerous  subscribers  and  the  public  will  be  on  hand  about  5  o'clock  this 
evening,  we  can  give  them  the  European  papers  by  the  America,  containing  doubt- 
less tlie  most  critical  intelligence  ever  transmitted  to  this  country.  So  be  ready. — 
Burgess,  Stringer  ^  Co.,  222  Broadway. 

We  appeal  to  every  man  who  has  a  right  to  vote  in  New  Hampshire,  but  especial- 
ly in  the  1st  and  2d  districts,  to  be  on  hand  next  Tuesday  to  cast  his  ballot  for  Peace, 
Prosperity,  and  Freedom.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  March  10,  1849. 

A  broker  from  Wall  street  was  on  hand  at  the  meeting,  and  tried  to  pray,  but,  from 
want  of  practice,  could  only  utter  disjointed  sentences  about  the  money  market,  etc. 
—  Doesticks. 

On  the  Coast.  Near,  close  at  hand.  A  nautical  expression,  in  common 
use  in  Nantucket. 

Onplush,  for  nonplus.    Used  in  the  Southern  States. 

You  know  I  tuck  dinner  at  the  Planters.  Well,  I  was  put  a  leetle  to  the  onplush 
by  that  old  nigger  feller  that  waits  on  the  table  there.  I  did  not  know  what  to  make 
of  him. — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  63. 

Onst  (pron,  wunst).  Once.  A  common  vulgar  pronunciation,  especially 
in  the  West.     And  so  twiste  for  "  twice." 

Onto.  A  preposition  bearing  the  same  relation  to  on,  that  into  does  to  in. 
Although  used  here  much  more  frequently  than  in  England,  it  is  not  pe- 
culiar to  America. 

When  the  stack  rises  two  feet  high  to  be  conveniently  forked  onto  from  tlie  ground. 
— Marshall,  Rural  Econ.,  Yorkshire,  Vol.  II.  p.  144. 

Mr.  Pickering  quotes  the  following  as  the  only  example  he  has  seen 

in  an  American  book  : 

Take  all  your  cigars  and  tobacco,  and  in  some  calm  evening  carry  them  onto  the 
common.  — Dr.  B.  Waterhouse,  Lecture  on  Tobacco. 

In  descriptions  of  machinery,  etc.,  the  term  is  in  very  general  use. 

The  improvement  consists  in  casting  a  boss  of  soft  metal  onto  the  metallic  tube. — 
Patent  Office  Report  for  1854,  Part  I.  p.  480. 

The  nature  of  this  invention  consists  in  the  use  of  a  spring  clamp,  etc.,  by  means 
of  which  the  back  of  the  shoe  is  securely  held  while  being  pulled  onto  the  foot  of  it. 
— Ibid.  p.  533- 

On  Yesterday.  A  corruption  in  common  use  among  editors  and  con- 
gressmen, who  seem  to  have  forgotten  that  yesterday  is  an  adverb  as  weU 
as  a  noun. 

It  was  the  intention  to  send  in  the  Treasury  Report,  which  has  been  so  long  delayed, 
on  yesterday.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Jan.  9,  1852. 

I  supposed  that  the  house  listened  to  the  remarks  of  the  gentleman  from  Texas, 
on  yesterday ;  and  therefore  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  relate  the  points  he  made.  — 
Speech  of  Mr.  Brooks,  July  7,  1852.  * 


304  O  P  E  —  0  U  R 

Mr.  Speaker,  when  I  arose  on  yesterday,  it  was  my  intention  merely  to  explain  my 
position,  etc.  — Speech  of  Mr.  Quitman,  Dec.  18,  1856. 

Opening.  In  the  Western  States,  a  term  applied  to  thinly  wooded  spaces 
without  underwood,  so  called  to  distinguish  them  from  the  forests  which 

'  are  thickly  wooded.  These  openings  are  generally  covered  with  small 
oaks. 

Accordin'  to  the  Bible,  God  put  the  first  man  and  woman  together  in  a  most 
beautiful  garden,  in  which  all  things  excellent  and  pleasant  was  to  be  found,  —  some 
such  place  as  these  openings,  I  reckon. — Cooper's  Oak  Openings,  p.  225. 

Opinuated.     Opinionative,  conceited.  — Sherwood's  Georgia. 

Opossum.  (Virginia  Ind.)  An  opassom  hath  a  head  like  a  swine,  and  a 
taile  like  a  rat,  and  is  of  the  bignesse  of  a  cat.  Under  her  belly  she 
hath  a  bagge  wherein  she  lodgeth,  carrieth,  and  suckleth  her  young.  — 
Smith's  Historie  of  Virginia. 

Oregon  Grape.  Frequently  mentioned  by  explorers  in  Oregon;  the 
name  of  the  plant  which  yields  it  is  not  given. 

Organic.  "Which  organizes  into  a  political,  legislative,  or  social  body ;  as, 
the  organic  law  of  a  Territory  or  State.  A  word  which  has  recently 
come  into  very  common  use. 

The  powers  of  the  corporation  of  Washington  are  only  those  which  are  conferred 
by  the  organic  law,  the  charter.  — Message  of  Mayor  of  Washington,  May  26,  1857. 

Ortolan.     See  Bobolink. 

Oswego  Tea.  (3Ionarda  didyma.)  A  medicinal  plant  prepared  by  the 
Shakers  for  its  aromatic  and  stomachic  properties. 

Ouch  !     Oh !  ah !     An  exclamation  of  pain.     Much  used  at  the  South. 

Ought.  As  this  verb  is  defective,  and  has  no  inflection  to  distinguish  past 
from  present  time,  illiterate  persons  often  attempt  to  supply  the  deficiency 
by  the  use  of  auxiliaries.  Hence  the  expressions,  don't  ought,  had 
ought,  hadn't  ought,  Mr.  Pegge  notices  the  two  last  among  the  vulgar- 
isms of  London. 

Now,  you  hadn't  ought  to  be  so  stingy  with  such  charming  daughters  as  you  've 
got.  — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  67. 

Peter  Cram  is  an  impostor  and  ignoramus,  and  you  hadn't  ought  to  have  recom- 
mended him.  — Knickerbocker  Mag.,  Vol.  XVII. 

"  The  luggage  must  be  brought  in,"  said  the  elderly  gentleman.  "  Yes  !  I  should 
think  it  hcul  oughter,"  observed  the  young  man  in  reply.  "  I  should  bring  it  in,  if  it 
was  mine." — Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  96. 

OuRN,  for  ours.  A  vulgarism  frequently  heard,  which  is  also  common  in 
the  local  dialect  of  London. 


OUT  — OVE  305 

To  OUT.     To  "  out  the  candle  "  means,  at  the  South,  to  put  out  the  candle. 

Outer.  Out  of.  "  TVhar  are  you  from  outer  ?  "  is  a  common  expression 
in  Kentucky  and  the  neighboring  States,  meaning.  Where  do  you  come 
or  hail  from  ? 

Out  op  Fix.  Disai-ranged ;  in  a  state  of  disorder.  Out  of  kilter  is  used 
in  the  same  sense. 

The  week  was  the  longest  one  ever  was.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  axletree  of  the 
world  wanted  greasin'  or  somethin'  or  other  was  out  of  fix,  for  it  did  n't  seem  to  turn 
round  half  so  fast  as  it  used  to  do. — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  80. 

Outfit.  Allowance  to  a  public  minister  of  the  United  States  on  going  to 
a  foreign  country,  which  cannot  exceed  a  year's  salary.  —  Worcester. 

Outsider.  A  term  applied  by  those  in  office,  or  in  any  association,  to 
those  outside  of  it. 

A  large  number  of  outsiders  have  gone  to  the  free-soil  convention  at  Buffalo.  — 
Loiodl  Journal. 

Over,  for  under.  In  these  expressions,  "  He  wrote  over  the  signature  of 
Junius  ;  "  "  He  published  some  papers  over  his  own  signature."  A  few 
of  our  writers  stiU  countenance  this  unwarrantable  innovation  ;  but  the 
principle  on  which  it  is  defended  would  unsettle  the  whole  language. 
The  use  of  the  word  under,  in  phrases  like  those  above  mentioned,  is  as 
well  established  as  any  English  idiom.  —  Pickering. 

Had  our  friend  U.,  of  Philadelphia,  duly  meditated  tills  matter,  he  never  would 
have  sent  us  a  letter  with  such  an  unpoetical  expression  in  it  as  the  very  common 
blunder  of  "over  tlie  signature,"  for  the  metaphorical  phrase  originally  derived 
from  the  ensign  of  the  soldier,  the  device  of  the  knight,  the  armorial  bearing  of  the 
baron,  the  totem,  if  you  please,  of  the  Indian  sachem,  under  which  he  presents  him- 
self to  the  world.  U.,  as  a  lawyer,  must  at  least  be  more  or  less  familiar  with  the 
phrase,  "  given  under  my  hand  and  seal,"  as  a  true  English  idiom,  albeit  the  hand 
and  seal  (which  in  tliis  instance  constitute  "the  signature")  are  placed  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  document.  We  do  not  talk  of  a  vessel  sailing  "  over  "  the  flag  of  the 
United  States,  when  lier  ensigns  are  sent  below  at  sunset !  — N.  Y.  Lit.  World. 

Overcup  "White  Oak.     See  Burr  Oak. 

Overly.  Excessively.  "  Is  old  man  Boone  rich  ?  "  "  Why,  not  overly 
so."     Western. 

Over  akd  above.  Exceedingly ;  very.  "  I  don't  think  our  friend  Phin- 
eas  Ls  over  and  above  scrupulous  as  to  how  he  makes  his  money." 

Ove;rcrop.  a  planter  or  farmer  is  ■  said  to  overcrop  himself  when  he 
plants  or  "  seeds  "  more  ground  than  he  can  attend  to. 

Overslaugh.  (Dutch,  overslag.)  A  bar,  in  the  marine  language  of  the 
Dutch.     The  overslaugh  in  the  Hudson  River,  near  Albany,  on  which 

26* 


806  O  V  E 

steamboats  and  other  vessels  often  run  aground,  is,  I  believe,  the  only 
locality  to  which  this  term  is  now  applied  among  us. 

To  Overslaugh.  (Dutch,  overslaan.)  To  skip  over,  pass  over,  omit. 
A  word  used  by  New  York  politicians,  to  signify  that  the  direct  line  of 
elevation  in  office  is  not  observed,  and  especially  when  an  "  outsider  "  is 
appointed  over  the  heads  of  those  already  in  office. 

Mr.  Polk  intended  making  Gen.  Butler  commander-in-chief,  and  to  drop  Gen. 
Scott.  But  it  was  found  that  public  opinion  would  not  be  reconciled  to  overslaugh- 
ing Taylor,  and  he  [Gen.  Taylor]  was  nominated.  — Washington  Correspondent,  N.  Y. 
Com.  Adv.,  Oct.  21,  1846. 

The  attempt  to  overslaugh  officers  entitled  to  rank  in  the  highest  grade  in  the  ser- 
vice, is  about  to  be  repeated  in  a  somewhat  different  way  in  a  lower  grade,  and  we 
desire  to  call  attention  to  the  facts. — N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enq.,  Oct.  1848. 

If  the  conspiracy  of  the  Calhounites  with  a  few  doughfaces  of  the  North  to  over- 
slaugh him  [Benton]  succeeds,  it  will  render  him  the  stronger  in  Missouri,  and  make 
his  reelection  to  the  Senate  more  certain.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Dec.  20,  1849. 

To  Overrun.    To  run  over. 

Economy,  Rupp's  community  near  Beaver,  was  lately  overrun  by  a  delighted  tra- 
veller, etc. — N.  Y.  Tribune,  June  16,  1849. 

To  Overture.  To  propose.  A  word  in  common  use  in  the  Presbyterian 
church,  in  speaking  of  laying  a  subject  before  an  ecclesiastical  body  for 
its  consideration. 

Over  the  Left.  An  expression  used  to  give  to  the  words  it  accompanies 
a  meaning  directly  opposite  to  that  which  they  would  otherwise  have. 
Common  in  England. 

At  a  county  court  held  in  Hartford,  Sept.  4th,  1705, 

Whereas  James  Steel  did  commence  an  action  against  Bevel  Waters  (both  of 
Hartford),  in  this  court,  upon  hearing  and  tryall  whereoff  the  court  gave  judgment 
against  the  said  Waters  (as  in  justice  they  think  they  ought),  upon  the  declaring  the 
said  judgment  the  said  Waters  did  review  to  the  court  in  March  next,  that  being 
granted  and  entered,  the  said  Waters,  as  he  departed  from  the  table,  said,  "  God 
bless  you  over  the  left  shoulder." 

The  court  ordered  a  record  thereof  to  be  made  forthwith. 

A  true  copie  :  Test  Caleb  Stanley,  Clerk. 

At  the  next  court  Waters  was  tried  for  contempt,  for  saying  the  words  recited, 
"  so  cursing  the  court ;  "  and  on  verdict,  fined  £.5.  He  asked  a  review  at  the  court 
following,  which  was  granted ;  and,  pending  trial,  the  court  asked  counsel  of  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Woodbridge  and  Buckingham,  the  ministers  of  the  Hartford  churches, 
as  to  '  the  common  acceptation '  of  the  offensive  phrase.  Their  reply  constitutes  a 
part  of  the  record,  and  is  as  follows  : 

We  are  of  opinion  that  these  words,  said  on  the  other  side  to  be  spoken  by  Bevel 
Waters,  include  [1]  prophaneness,  by  using  the  name  of  God,  that  is  holy,  with 
such  ill  words  whereto  it  was  joyned  ;  [2]  that  they  carry  great  contempt  in  them, 
arising  to  the  degree  of  an  imprecation  or  a  curse,  the  words  of  a  curse  being  the 
most  contemptible  that  can  ordinarily  be  used.  T.  Woodbkidgb, 

March  7th,  1705-6.  "T.  Buckingham. 


O  WD  — PAD  307 

The  former  judgment  was  affirmed  on  review.  This,  it  is  believed,  is 
the  earliest  instance  of  the  use  of  this  phrase  to  be  met  with,  at  least  in 
this  country. 

OwDACious,  for  audacious.     Southern  and  "Western. 

He  had  a  daughter  Molly,  that  was  the  most  enticin',  heart-distressin'  creature 
that  ever  made  a  feller  get  owdacious.  —  RM,  Squatter  Life. 

Why,  Major,  you  would  n't  take  such  a  likely  gall  as  that  to  New  York  ?  The 
abolitionists  would  have  her  out  of  your  hands  quicker  than  you  could  say  Jack 
Robinson.  I  was  never  so  oudacioitsly  put  out  with  the  abominable  abolitionists  be- 
fore. It  was  enough  to  make  a  man  what  was  n't  principled  agin  swearin'  cuss 
like  a  trooper.  —  Major  Jones's  Travels. 

Otster-Plant.  Salsify ;  a  plant  of  the  genus  tragopogon,  so  called  from 
its  resemblance  in  taste,  when  cooked,  to  the  oyster.  It  is  also  called  the 
Vegetable  Oyster. 

Otster-Shucker.     An  oyster-opener.     Southern. 
Otster-Fish.     See  Toad-Fish. 


P. 

Paas.  Pron.  paws  with  s  hard.  (Dutch,  Paasch.)  This  Dutch  name  is 
commonly  applied  to  the  festival  of  Easter,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

Paas  Bloomachee,  i.  e.  Easter  flower.  (^Narcissus  pseudo-narcissus.) 
Not  the  Pasque  Flower  of  botanists,  but  the  common  Yellow  Daffodil. 

Paas  Eggs.  Hard-boiled  eggs  cracked  together  by  New  York  boys  at 
the  Easter  season.     They  are  often  dyed  of  various  colors  in  boiling. 

To  Pack.     To  transport  in  packs  or  packages ;    and  hence,  simply  to 

carry.     "Are  you  going  to  pack  that  rock  all  the  way  home  ?  "  said  to  a 

person  who  had  secured  a  bit  of  stone  containing  a  fine  fossil.     "Western. 

We  reached  Bull  Creek  about  two  o'clock,  and  there  gave  the  mules  some  rest. 

Just  before  reaching  it,  Joe  killed  an  antelope,  of  which  we  had  seen  several.    We 

packed  the  hams  and  shoulders  to  camp.  —  T.  A.  Culbertson,  in  Fifth  Smithson. 

Report,  p.  91. 

Paddle.  A  wooden  instrument  with  which  negroes  are  punished,  shaped 
Uke  the  paddle  of  a  canoe,  with  holes  bored  through  the  blade.  See 
Cohb. 

To  Paddle  one's  own  Canoe.  A  figurative  "Western  phrase,  mean- 
ing to  make  one's  own  way  in  life,  to  be  the  architect  of  one's  own  for- 
tunes. 


308  PAI  — PAL 

Voyager  upon  life's  sea, 

To  yourself  be  true, 
And  where'er  your  lot  may  be. 

Paddle  your  own  canoe. 

Leave  to  Heaven,  in  humble  trust, 

All  you  will  to  do  ; 
But  if  you  succeed,  yon  must 

Paddle  your  own  canoe. 

Harper's  Magazine,  May,  1854. 

Paint.  In  some  of  the  Southern  States,  a  horse  or  other  animal  whicli  is 
spotted  is  called  a  paint. 

Painter,  a  corruption  of  panther.  The  popular  name  of  the  cougar  or 
panther.     See  Puma. 

"  You  don't  know  the  way,"  said  Obed ;  "  snakes  '11  bite  ye ;  there  's  painters  in 
the  woods,  and  wild-cats  and  owls."  — Margaret,  p.  27. 

Fair  of  Stairs.    An  expression  often  used  for  ajlight  of  stairs. 

Pale-faces.  A  term  applied,  or  said  to  be  applied,  by  the  American  In- 
dians to  the  whites. 

"  Yes,"  muttered  the  Indian,  "  the  pale  faces  are  prattling  women !  They  have 
two  words  for  each  thing,  while  a  red-skin  will  make  the  sound  of  his  voice  speak 
for  him."  — Cooper,  Last  of  the  Mohegans. 

The  brave  Tecumseh's  words  are  good  : 

"  One  league  for  ten*or,  strife,  and  blood, 

Must  all  our  far-spread  tribes  unite  ; 

Then  shall  the  paleface  sink  to  night."  —  Cotton,  Tecumseh,  xviii. 

Palmateer.     See  Parmateer. 

Palm-Cabbage.  The  young  terminal  bud  or  sprouting  leaf  of  the  Areca 
oleracea  and  of  some  other  palms,  used  as  a  culinary  vegetable  when  suf- 
ficiently tender. 

Palmetto.  (  Chcemerops  palmetto.)  A  perennial  plant  strongly  marking 
climate.  It  commences  in  the  same  regions  with  Long  Moss,  that  is  to 
say,  about  33°.  It  throws  up  from  a  large  root,  so  tough  as  to  be  cut 
with  difficulty  by  an  axe,  and  hard  to  be  eradicated  from  the  soil,  large, 
fan-shaped  palms,  of  the  most  striking  and  vivid  verdure,  and  ribbed 
with  wonderful  exactness.  It  is  used  by  the  savages  and  the  poorer  Cre- 
oles as  thatch  for  their  cabins  ;  and  from  the  tender  shoots  of  the  season, 
properly  prepared,  a  very  useful  kind  of  summer  hats,  called  palmetto 
hats,  is  manufactured.  —  Flint,  Geogr.  of  Miss.  Valley. 

Palmetto  Capital.  The  city  of  Augusta,  the  capital  of  South  Carolina, 
so  called  from  the  arms  of  the  State,  which  contain  a  palmetto. 


PAL  — PAR  309 

In  the  delightful  temperature  of  to-day,  with  the  rich  foliage  of  the  trees  in  green 
luxuriance,  and  the  peifumes  of  a  thousand  beds  of  flowers  burdening  the  air,  the 
Palmetto  capital  is  exceedingly  pleasant.  — Letter  from  Charleston,  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Palmetto  State.     The  State  of  South  Carolina. 

Panel-House,  or  Panel-Den.  A  house  of  prostitution  and  theft  com- 
bined. 

Panel-Thief.  A  thief  who,  while  the  victim  is  engaged  with  a  girl  of 
the  town,  enters  the  room  by  a  secret  opening,  and  abstracts  his  money, 
watch,  etc. 

Pandowdy.  Food  made  of  bread  and  apples  baked  together.  —  Worcester. 
New  England.  Halliwell  gives  Pandoulde  as  the  Somerset  name  for  a 
custard.     See  Slump. 

Pantaloonery.  The  particular  description  of  fabrics  from  which  panta- 
loons are  made.  A  word  used  by  the  merchant  tailors  in  their  adver- 
tisements. 

Pants.     Pantaloons.     A  word  borrowed   from   the   language  of  tailors' 

biUs. 

The  things  named  pants  in  certain  documents, 
A  word  not  made  for  gentlemen,  but  gents. 

Holmes'  Poems,  p.  217. 

Pappoose.  (Abenaki  Ind.)  Among  the  native  Indians  of  New  England, 
a  babe  or  young  child.  — Roger  Williams.  It  is  applied  by  the  whites  to 
Indian  infants  in  general. 

Where  the  Indian  squaw  hung  her  young  pappoos  upon  the  bough,  and  left  it  to 
squall  at  the  hush-a-by  of  the  blast,  the  Anglo-Saxon  mother  now  rocks  the  cradle 
of  her  delicate  babe. — Dow's  Sermons. 

Pappoose-Root.  {Caulophyllum  thalictroides.)  A  plant  called  also 
Blue  Cohosh. 

Parish.     In  Louisiana  a  parish  is  what,  in  other  States,  is  called  a  county. 

To  Parmateer,  or  Palmateer.  To  electioneer ;  evidently  a  corruption 
of  parliamenteer,  to  electioneer  for  a  seat  in  parliament.  This  term  is 
very  common  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  beyond  which  I  think  it  does 
not  extend. 

Our  people  talk  a  great  deal  about  emancipation ;  but  they  know  it's  all  bunkum, 
and  it  serves  to  palmateer  on,  and  makes,  a  pretty  catchword.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human 
Nature,  175. 

Partly.  Mr.  Pickering  notices  the  use  of  this  word  in  the  sense  of  near- 
ly, almost,  in  some  towns  of   the  Middle  States.     Ex.  "His  house  is 


310  PAR  — PAT 

partly  opposite  to  mine,"  i.  e.  nearly  opposite.     "  It  is  partly  all  gone," 
i.  e.  nearly  all  gone. 

Paktridge.    In  the  South  and  West,  the  quail  is  so  called. 

PARTRiDGE-BEURr.  A  name  applied  both  to  Gaultheria  procumbens,  or 
Creeping  Wintergreen,  and  to  Mitchella  repens.  The  scarlet  fruit  of 
both  is  similar  in  appearance,  highly  flavored  in  the  former,  but  tasteless 
in  the  latter. 

Passage.  Enactment ;  the  act  of  carrying  through  all  the  regular  forms 
necessary  to  give  validity ;  as  the  passage  of  a  law,  or  of  a  bill  into  a 
law,  by  a  legislative  body.  —  Webster.  Mr.  Pickering  says  this  word  "  is 
criticized  by  the  English  reviewers  as  an  American  innovation."  It  is 
not  in  the  English  dictionaries  in  this  sense. 

His  agency  in  procuring  the  passage  of  the  stamp  act  was  more  than  suspected. — 
Hosack. 

Passion-Flower.  (^Passijlora.)  A  genus  of  tendril-bearing  vines,  most 
of  whose  species  are  South  American.  The  early  missionaries  fancied 
that  they  found  in  these  flowers  emblems  of  the  implements  of  Christ's 
passion  :  the  fringe  representing  the  crown  of  thorns ;  the  large  anthers 
fixed  by  their  middle,  hammers  ;  and  the  five  styles,  the  nails.  We  have 
two  wild  species,  lutea  and  incarnata,  common  in  the  South  and  West. — 
Gray. 

Patentable.  That  may  be  patented ;  for  which  a  patent  can  be  taken 
out. 

Patent  Right.  A  patent.  In  the  United  States  an  inventor  takes  out  a 
"patent  right ;  "  in  England,  "  letters  patent." 

Patent  Agent.     One  who  procures  patents  for  inventors. 

Patent  Safe  Game  or  Operation.  A  system  of  trickery  practised  in  our 
large  cities  on  verdant  gentlemen  from  the  country.  Three  confidants 
generally  play  the  game  ;  but  two  can  do  it.  When  they  see  a  person 
called  by  them  a  "  Sucker,"  who  appears  to  be  a  fit  subject  to  play  upon, 
they  learn  his  name  and  something  about  him,  such  as  the  place  where  he 
came  from,  etc.  One  of  them,  who  is  called  the  "  Roper,"  goes  up  to  him, 
names  him  familiarly,  and  shakes  him  by  the  hand.  This  at  first  rather 
astonishes  the  stranger ;  but  the  Roper  looks  so  innocent,  and  is  so  oblig- 
ing and  kind  that  he  soon  disarms  his  suspicion  and  gains  his  confidence. 
He  then  invites  him  to  go  and  see  the  wonderful  places  about  the  city, 
and  walks  about  until  he  arrives  at  a  proper  place,  where  Mr.  Roper, 
by  looking  down  on  the  ground,  discovers,  accidentally  of  course,  a  little 


PAT  311 

neatly  turned  wooden  ball,  which  he  picks  up,  and  gazing  upon  it  with  a 
look  of  intense  curiosity,  he  says  meditatively  to  his  dupe,  "  Well,  this  is 
really  a  queer  thing ;  I  wonder  what  it  can  be  used  for ;  "  and,  pressing 
it  all  round,  to  his  apparent  surprise,  out  he  pushes  an  interior  plug. 
"With  well  assumed  wonder  he  says,  "Ah,  what  is  this  ?  "  and  puUs  it  out 
entirely,  unscrewing  its  lid.  "A  nice  little  box  ;  well  now  this  is  inge- 
nious ;  and  it  has  something  in  it  too."  He  then  takes  out  a  piece  of 
white  paper,  shows  Sucker  the  empty  box,  and  thi'ows  the  piece  of 
paper  on  the  ground.  There  is  another  piece  of  paper  in  the  small 
chamber  at  the  other  end  of  the  plug ;  but  Sucker  does  not  see  this, 
and  the  plug  is  put  back  in  its  place. 

A  man  is  now  noticed  coming  towai-ds  them,  attentively  examining  the 
ground,  with  despair  depicted  on  his  countenance.  He  attracts  the 
Roper's  attention,  who  says  to  his  dupe  companion,  "  This  man  has  lost 
something  valuable ;  let  us  put  some  questions  to  him." 

"  You  appear  to  be  troubled  in  mind,  sir ;  have  you  lost  any  thing  ?  " 
"  Yes,  sir,  I  have  lost  something  that  I  would  not  have  parted  with  for 
ten  thousand  dollars.  I  had  spent  years  in  inventing  a  ncAV  safe  for  fires, 
which  I  know  would  save  millions'  worth  of  property,  and  was  on  my 
way  to  Messrs.  Holmes  &  Butler's,  the  safe  makers,  to  get  one  made ;  but 
alas !  I  have  lost  the  model !  It  had  the  appearance  of  a  small  carved 
wooden  ball ;  —  oh,  sir !  Avhat  shall  I  do  ?  "  Roper  says,  feelingly  and 
honest-like  aside  to  Sucker,  "  I  can  stand  this  no  longer ;  it  pains  me  to 
see  him."  "  Friend,"  says  he  to  the  afflicted  safe  loser,  "  I  think  I  know 
where  it  is  ;  "  and,  taking  it  out  of  his  pocket,  asks,  "  Is  this  your  model 
safe  ?  "  "  It  is,  it  is  ;  thank  you,  thank  you  !  "  exclaims  the  overjoyed 
safe  man.  "  But  how,"  says  Roper,  "  can  such  a  thing  as  that  answer  for 
a  safe  ?  "  "  Oh,  I  put  a  prop  under  it ;  and  when  a  fire  takes  place,  the 
support  has  but  to  be  knocked  away,  and  out  it  rolls  down  an  incline  into 
the  street."  "  By  all  the  powers,"  says  Roper,  "  that  is  a  capital  idea ! 
I  suppose  you  have  made  it  to  hold  something."  "  Oh,  yes,  there  is  a 
box  inside  of  it,  and  a  paper  in  its  chamber  now." 

"  I  don't  believe  that,"  says  Roper.  (And  aside  to  Sucker  he  whispers, 
"  I  'U  bet  him  on  that  piece  of  paper.")  "  I  '11  bet  there  is  no  paper  in 
it." 

«  How  much  will  you  bet  ?     I  '11  put  up  $1 ,000." 

"I  have  not  that  much," — (aside  to  Sucker,  "I'll  take  $100  from 
him,")  —  "  but  I  '11  bet  $100 ; "  and  he  takes  out  a  number  of  bills,  per- 
haps $50,  and  a  bank  check  for  other  $50,  and  says  to  Sucker  (for  he 
has  found  out  how  much  he  has),  "  Will  you  loan  me  bills  for  this  check 
until  we  get  to  my  hotel  ?  " 

All  this  has  been  done  so  honest  and  fair  like  that  Sucker  pulls  out  his 


312  PAT 

pocket-book,  gives  accomplished  Roper  $50  in  bills,  and  takes  his  check. 
Then  the  safe  man  presses  on  the  conical  end  of  the  plug,  takes  it  out, 
and  from  the  other  end  pulls  out  the  other  piece  of  paper.  The  thing  is 
done  ;  and  the  safe  man,  having  fairly  won  the  bet,  marches  off  with  the 
money.  The  Roper  looks  sad  and  crest-fallen,  but  is  soon  relieved  of  his 
grief,  for  up  comes  a  person  assuming  to  be  a  policeman,  charges  them 
with  gambling,  and  makes  a  grab  at  them.  Roper  shouts,  "  Run  ! "  to  his 
companion,  and  takes  to  his  heels  ;  but  poor  Sucker  is  held  by  the  officer, 
and,  denying  the  imputation  of  gambling,  solicits  to  be  let  go.  This  the 
policeman  allows  ;  when,  in  his  fright,  Sucker  flies  the  city,  and  soon 
finds  out  that  his  check  is  worthless,  that  the  safe  man,  policeman,  and 
Roper  were  colleagues,  and  he  the  dupe  of  the  patent  safe  game.  — ScieU' 
tific  American,  Vol.  X.  p.  381. 

Was  Gen.  Scott,  by  a  sort  of  patent  safe  or  Peter  Funk  operation,  diddled  out  of 
his  ten  thousand,  or  did  Santa  Anna  try  tlie  trick  merely  to  get  a  little  ready  money 
for  the  uses  of  the  defensive  garrisons  of  Mexico,  or  how  was  it  ?  —  N.  Y.  Herald, 
Sept.  1,  1857. 

Patent  Safe  Operator.  A  rogue  who  plays  the  "  patent  safe  game." 
Little  Toddlekins  arrives  about  this  hour,  escorted  by  his  female  guard  of  honor, 
with  a  wonderful  hat,  all  feathers  and  ribbons,  and  his  little  legs  cased  in  stockings 
of  the  most  brilliant  hues.  The  guard  of  honor  takes  possession  of  a  bench  not  too 
far  from  a  flasliy  looking  man  with  a  black  moustache,  who  is  probably  a  patent  safe 
operator,  and  with  whom  she  presently  falls  into  conversation.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Nov. 
3,  1858. 

Patroon.     (Dutch,  patroon,  a  patron.)     A  grantee  of  land  to  be  settled 
under  the  old  Dutch  governments  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey. 

The  following  articles,  from  the  "  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  "  granted 
to  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  will  show  what  were  some  of  the 
privileges  of  the  Patroons : 

Art.  3.  All  such  shall  be  acknowledged  Patroons  of  New  Netherland  who  shall, 
within  the  space  of  four  years  next  after  they  have  given  notice  to  any  of  the  Cham- 
bers of  the  Company  here,  or  to  the  Commander  of  the  Council  there,  undertake  to 
plant  a  colonic  there  of  fifty  souls,  upwards  of  fifteen  years  of  age  ;  one  fourth  part 
within  one  year,  and  within  three  years  of  the  sending  of  the  first,  the  remainder,  to 
the  full  number  of  fifty  persons,  to  be  sliippcd  from  hence,  on  pain,  in  case  of  wilful 
neglect,  of  being  deprived  of  the  privileges  obtained,  etc. 

Art.  5.  The  Patroons,  by  virtue  of  their  power,  shall  and  may  be  permitted,  at 
such  places  as  they  shall  settle  their  colonies,  to  extend  their  limits  four  miles  along 
the  shore,  that  is,  on  one  side  of  a  navigable  river,  or  two  miles  on  each  side  of  a 
river,  and  so  far  into  the  country  as  the  situation  of  the  occupiers  will  permit,  etc. 

Art.  8.  The  Patroons  may,  if  they  think  proper,  make  use  of  all  lands,  rivers, 
and  woods  lying  contiguous  to  them,  for  and  during  so  long  a  time  as  this  company 
shall  grant  them  to  other  Patroons  or  particulars. 

For  a  further  account  of  the  privileges  of  the  Patroons,  see  O'Calla- 
han's  History  of  New  Netherland,  Vol.  I.  p.  11 2. 


PAT  — PEA  313 

Patroonship.     The  office  of  a  patroon. 

The  great  Oloffe  indulged  in  magnificent  dreams  of  foreign  conqaests  and  great 
patroonships  in  the  wilderness.  — Irving,  Knickerbocker. 

Papaw.  (Asimina  triloba.)  A  wild,  fruit-bearing  shrub,  remarkable  for 
its  beauty.  The  fruit  is  nutritious,  and  a  great  resource  to  the  Indians. 
"  The  popular  name  of  Papaw,"  says  Gray,  in  his  N.  Amer.  Genera, 
"  was  doubtless  given  to  the  fruit  from  a  fancied  resemblance  in  the  ap- 
pearance or  taste  of  the  fruit  to  the  true  Papaw  of  tropical  America." 
The  plant  is  also  noted  for  the  pliability  and  toughness  of  its  twigs, 
well  known  as  substitutes  for  parts  of  broken  harness. 

Pauhagen,  or  Pohagen.     See  Menhaden. 

Peage,  or  Peak.  Shells,  or  strings  of  shells,  formerly  used  by  the  Indians 
of  New  England  and  Virginia,  as  well  as  among  the  early  settlers,  as 
money  ;  also  called  wampum  and  seawan,  which  see. 

No  one  shall  take  any  black  peage  of  the  Indians  but  at  foure  a  penny ;  and  if  any 
shall  take  black  peage  under  four  a  penny,  hec  shall  forfeltt  sayd  peage,  one  halfe 
to  the  informer,  and  the  other  halfe  to  the  State.  —  Laivs  of  Rhode  Island,  1648. 

The  Indians  [of  Virginia]  had  nothing  which  they  reckoned  riches  before  the  Eng- 
lish went  among  them,  except  peak,  roenoke,  and  such  trifles,  made  out  of  the  conk 
shell. — Beverly's  Virginia,  1705. 

The  current  money  of  all  the  Indians  in  Carolina,  and,  I  believe,  of  all  over  the 
continent  as  far  as  the  Bay  of  Mexico,  is  that  which  we  call  peak  and  ronoak.  This 
is  that  which  they  in  New  York  call  wampum.  —  Lawson's  Carolina,  1718. 

On  the  Virginia  coast  is  found  that  species  of  conch  shell  which  the  Indian 
peak  is  made  of.  The  extremities  of  these  shells  are  blue  and  the  rest  white,  so  that 
peak  of  both  these  colors  are  drilled  out  of  the  same  shell,  serving  the  natives  both 
for  ornament  and  money,  and  are  esteemed  by  them  beyond  gold  and  silver.  —  West 
over  Papers,  p.  12. 

To  Peak,  or  Peke.     To  peep.     It  is  quite  common  in  the  popular  lan- 
guage of  New  England  to  hear  this  word,  which  Dr.  Webster  supposes 
to  be  the  same  as  peep.     If  it  be  a  corruption,  which  is  doubtful,  the 
examples  will  show  that  its  use  is  not  modern. 
Now  whereof  he  speketh. 
He  cryeth  and  he  creketh. 

He  pryetli  and  hQpeketh.  — Skelton,  Colin  Cloute,  Vol.  I.  312. 
That  other  pries  and  pekes  in  everie  place.  —  Gascoigne,  p.  301. 
He  's  a  lazy,  good-for-nothiu'  fellow.    He  's  no  better  than  a  peaking  mudsucker. 
—  Margaret,  p.  20. 

The  convent  committee  visited  the  city  of  "Worcester,  and  inspected  the  Catholic 
Seminary.  The  members  of  it  behaved  in  such  an  undignified,  ludicrous,  peeking, 
bombastical  manner,  that  they  obtained  the  appellation  of  the  "  smelling  commit- 
tee."—  Worcester  Transcript,  April,  1855. 

As  once  my  dazzled  eyes  I  set 
Where  Julia's  neck  and  boddice  met, 
She  asked  what  I  was  seeking. 
27 


314  PEA  — PEE 

"  There  —  that,"  said  I ;  "is  that  Nankeen  1 
The  lining  of  your  waist,  I  mean." 
"  No,  sir  !  "  said  she,  "  that's  Pekin  I " 

Tribune  Almanac,  1855. 

Peaked.  Thin  and  emaciated,  as  from  sickness.  HoUoway  says,  that  in 
England  they  say  of  a  sickly  person,  "  he  looks  pale  and  peaked."  The 
same  expression  is  often  heard  in  the  Northern  States. 

But  there  was  a  lawyer  a  standing  up  by  the  grove,  lookin'  as  peaked  and  as  for- 
lorn as  an  unmated  coon.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  eh.  11. 

Peaky,  or  Peeky.     Sickly  looking ;  peakish. 

The  species  of  decay  to  which  the  cypress  tree  is  liable,  shows  itself  in  detached 
spots  in  close  proximity  to  each  other.  Timber  affected  in  this  way  is  denominated 
by  raftsmen,  peeky.  —  Dickeson  on  Cypress  Timber. 

Pealeb.     a  dashing,  go  ahead  person  or  thing ;  a  rouser. 

Peanut.  The  common  name  for  the  fruit  of  the  Arachms  hypogcea.  It 
is  also  called  Ground-nut  and  Earth-nut,  from  its  growing  under  ground. 

Pecan-Nut.  (  Garya  olwcBformts.)  A  tree  of  beautiftil  form  and  appear- 
ance, useful  for  building  and  for  making  rails.  Its  nut  is  long,  cylindri- 
cal, and  olive-shaped,  with  a  shell  comparatively  soft.  The  meat  lies  in 
two  oblong  lobes,  is  easily  taken  out  entire,  and  excels  all  other  nuts  in 
delicacy  of  flavor.  — Flint,  Geogr.  of  3Iississ.  Valley. 

Peccary.  (Dicotyles.)  The  native  American  hog,  common  in  South 
America,  but  found  also  in  Central  America,  and  as  far  North  as  New 
Mexico  and  Texas.  In  its  habits  it  is  closely  allied  to  the  common  hog ; 
its  gait  is  the  same,  it  roots  up  the  earth  in  a  similar  manner,  and  ex- 
presses its  feelings  by  the  same  disagreeable  grunt.  It  differs  from  it 
mainly  in  having  under  the  skin  on  the  middle  of  the  loins  a  gland  which 
secretes  a  fluid  of  a  very  offensive  smell. 

Peckerwood.     Western  for  "Woodpecker. 

Peculiar  Institution.  Negro  slavery,  so  called  as  being  peculiar  to  the 
Southern  States. 

The  dangers  which  at  present  threaten  the  peculiar  domestic  institutions  of  the 
South,  make  it  necessary  that  all  strangers  from  the  North  should  be  examined  and 
their  business  ascertained.  — South  Carolina  Gazette. 

"Urgent  appeals  were  sent  to  the  sympathizers  of  Senator  Douglas  in  Missouri  to 
attend  and  do  honor  to  the  champion  of  the  peculiar  institution  at  the  meeting  in 
Qumcy,  Illinois.  —  iV.  Y.  Tribune,  Oct.  19,  1854. 

To  Peel  it.  To  run  at  full  speed.  "  Come,  boys  ;  peel  it  now,  or  you  '11 
be  late." 


PEE  — PEM  315 

Peert,  or  Peart.  Brisk,  lively.  An  old  word,  still  provincial  in  Eng- 
land, and  probably  a  corrupt  pronunciation  of  pert.  The  phrase,  "  as 
peert  as  a  lizard,"  is  sometimies  heard.  It  is  used  in  a  good  as  well  as  a 
bad  sense,  and  especially  of  one  who  is  recovering,  or  "  looking  up,"  after 
a  fit  of  sickness.  In  Virginia  they  say  the  wind  blows  quite  peert,  i.  e. 
briskly. 

Give  your  play^nll  a  stoole,  and  my  lady  her  foole, 

And  her  usher  potatoes  and  marrow ; 
But  your  poet,  were  he  dead,  set  a  pot  on  his  head. 
And  he  rises  as  peart  as  a  sparrow.  —  Bibl.  Brit.  II.  167. 
I  gave  her  the  best  bend  I  had  in  me,  and  raised  my  bran-new  hat  as  peert  and 
perlite  as  a  minister.  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

That  fellow  must  think  we  were  all  raised  in  a  saw-mill,  he  looks  so  ipeert  when- 
ever he  comes  in.  —  Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West. 

Mary's  rite  piert,  and  her  child  is  making  a  monstrous  good  beginnin'  in  the 
world.  —  Major  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  200. 

Well,  I  starts  off  pretty  considerable  peert  and  brisk,  considering  I  was  weak.  — 
Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  178. 

Knocking  round  the  place,  I  came  upon  one  of  these  fellers  that  grinds  music 
out'n  a  mahogany  box.  He  had  a  little  monkey  along  —  the  peartest,  least  bit  of  a 
critter  you  ever  seed.  — Widow  Bagby's  Husband. 

Peet-weet.  (  Tringoides  macularius.)  The  spotted  Sandpiper  or  Sand- 
lark  of  ornithologists,  but  better  known  among  the  people  by  the  name 
of  Peet-weet,  in  allusion  to  its  note  ;  or  of  Teeter  and  Tilt-up  or  Tip-up, 
from  its  often  repeated  grotesque  jerking  motions. 

Pee-wee.     The  name  given  by  boys  to  a  little  marble. 

In  Forbes's  Dahomey,  Vol.  I.  p.  219,  is  the  following  passage  in  his 
account  of  the  Dahoman  language  : 

The  addition  of  pee-wee,  or  small,  is  sufficient  to  express  an  almost  entirely  differ- 
ent meaning  in  om*  idiom ;  thus,  toh,  a  city ;  toh  pee-wee,  a  village ;  hoh,  a  house ; 
hoh  pee-wee,  a  hut. 

Pelt.  A  blow.  —  Grose.  Used  only  in  familiar  language,  and  chiefly  by 
boys. 

Pemmican.  a  far-famed  provender  of  man,  in  the  wilds  of  North  Ame- 
rica, formed  by  pounding  the  choice  parts  of  the  meat  very  small,  dried 
over  a  slow  fire  or  in  the  frost,  and  put  into  bags  made  of  the  skin  of  the 
filain  animal,  into  which  a  portion  of  melted  fat  is  then  poured.  The 
whole  being  then  strongly  pressed  and  sewed  up,  constitutes  the  best  and 
most  portable  food  for  the  "  voyageurs,"  and  one  which,  with  proper  care, 
will  keep  a  long  time.  Fifty  pounds  of  itieat  and  forty  pounds  of  grease 
make  a  bag  of  pemmican.  Sweet  pemmican  is  another  kind,  made 
chiefly  of  bones.  — Dunn's  Oregon,  p.  59. 


816  PEN  — PER 

Wliile  we  were  discussing  our  usual  dinner  of  hard  dried  meat  and  pemmican,  a 
hunter  burst  into  the  room  with  the  glad  tidings  that  he  had  killed  a  moose.  —  Back, 
Arctic  Journal, 

If  pemmican  be  the  order  of  the  day,  the  lean  meat,  after  being  dried,  is  pounded 
into  dust,  and,  being  put  into  a  bag,  is  enriched  with  nearly  an  equal  weight  of  fat. 
— Sir  G.  Simpson's  Journey,  Vol.  I.  p.  92. 

Pennyroyal.  This  very  English  name  is  given  in  this  country  to  a  differ- 
ent plant,  although  the  color  and  taste  of  both  are  nearly  alike.  The 
true  English  pennyroyal  is  a  mint ;  the  American  is  Hedeoma  pulegioides. 

Peon.  (Span.)  A  day  laborer.  These  laborers  are  very  often  bondmen 
for  debt ;  which,  as  Gregg  describes,  is  thus  brought  about.  "  They  labor 
for  fixed  wages,  it  is  true ;  but  all  they  can  earn  is  hardly  sufficient  to 
keep  them  in  the  coarsest  clothing  and  pay  their  contingent  expenses. 
Men's  wages  range  from  two  to  five  dollars  a  month,  and  those  of  women 
from  fifty  cents  to  two  dollars  ;  in  payment  of  which  they  rarely  receive 
any  money,  but  instead  thereof  articles  of  apparel  and  other  necessaries 
at  the  most  exorbitant  prices.  The  consequence  is  that  the  servant  soon 
accumulates  a  debt  which  he  is  unable  to  pay,  —  his  wages  being  often 
engaged  a  year  or  two  in  advance.  Now,  according  to  the  usages,  if  not 
the  laws  of  the  country,  he  is  bound  to  serve  his  master  until  all  arrear- 
ages are  liquidated ;  and  is  only  enabled  to  effect  an  exchange  of  masters 
by  engaging  another  to  pay  his  debt,  to  whom  he  becomes  in  like  manner 
bound. 

"  If  I  was  going  far  into  Mexico,"  said  the  guide,  "  I  would  always  liire  a  Mexi- 
can fellow  to  go  with  me,  so  I  could  dress  mean  and  make  liim  do  all  the  business, 
so  I  would  be  thought  to  be  his  peon."  —  Olmsted's  Texas,  p.  336. 

The  whole  town  was  in  an  uproar,  and  no  one  seemed  to  know  what  it  was  about. 
At  length  it  was  ascertained  that  one  of  the  herders  was  a  peon,  and  a  man  wished 
to  seize  and  imprison  him  till  he  could  be  restored  to  his  original  state  of  servitude. 

—  Capt.  Whipple's  Explorations  to  the  Pacific,  p.  62. 

Peonage.  The  system  of  treatment  pursued  towards  the  laboring  classes 
in  Mexico. 

Pepperidge.  (Nyssa  multijlora.)  A  name  given  in  the  South  and  "West 
to  the  Black  or  Sour  Gum,  also  called  Tupebo.  It  has  a  very  tough 
wood,  which  is  difficult  to  split. 

Periauger.     (Span,  piragua.)     1.   A  canoe  formed  of  one  large  tree. 

Getting  into  a  perioque  I  paddled  off  to  a  part  of  the  Green  Kiver  where  there  was 
sand  and  clay.  —  W.  Irving,  Wolfert's  Roost,  p.  269. 

At  niglit  the  barges  [of  the  British]  were  heard  rowing  up  and  down  the  river  on 
mystei'ious  errands  ;  perriaugers  also  paid  them  furtive  visits  occasionally.  — Irving's 
Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  272. 

Our  skipper  rowed  to  an  oyster-bank  just  by,  and  loaded  his  periauga  with  oysters. 

—  Westover  Papers,  p.  13. 


PER  — PES  317 

This  word  is  frequently  corrupted  to  pettyauger. 

On  the  8th  the  French  crossed  the  Missouri  in  a  pettyauger,  the  Indians  on  floats  of 
cane,  and  the  horses  were  swam  over. — DaPratz,  Louisiana,  Vol.  I.  p.  108. 

2.   A  small  schooner  without  a  bowsprit,  and  with  a  lee-board,  formerly 
much  used  in  the  waters  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey. 

Steamboats,  lighters,  periaugers,  scows,  clam-boats,  and  nondescript  water-witches 
of  every  sort,  have  aiTived  hourly  from  quarantine,  loaded  with  almost  entire  vil- 
lages of  men,  women,  and  children  [German  and  Irish  emigrants] .  — N.  Y.  Com- 
mercial Advertiser. 

Perk.  Lively ;  brisk  ;  holding  up  the  head.  —  Webster.  This  old  word, 
still  provincial  in  England,  is  used  in  the  interior  of  New  England,  and 
is  commonly  pronounced  pearh  (the  ea  as  in  pear.)  —  Pickering. 

Persimmon.  (Virginia  Indian.  Diospyros  virginiana.)  This  tree  is 
unknown  in  the  northeastern  parts  of  our  country ;  but  south  of  lati- 
tude 42°  it  is  found  throughout  the  United  States.  It  varies  exceedingly 
in  size,  being  sometimes  sixty  feet  in  height,  with  a  trunk  twenty  inches 
in  diameter,  but  more  frequently  does  not  attain  half  these  dimensions. 
The  fruit  is  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  is  powerfully  astringent 
when  green  ;  but  when  fully  ripe,  the  pulp  becomes  soft,  palatable, 
and  very  sweet.  The  wood  is  very  hard,  and  is  used  for  large  screws, 
mallets,  shoe-lasts,  wedges,  etc.  In  clearing  the  forests,  the  persi?nmon 
is  usually  preserved;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  quality  of  the  fruit 
might  be  improved  by  cultivation.  — Encyc.  Amer. 

"  The  longest  pole  knocks  down  the  persimmons"  is  a  proverbial  say- 
ing, meaning  that  the  strongest  party  gains  the  day. 

Plums  there  are  of  three  sorts.  The  red  and  white  are  like  our  hedge  plums ; 
but  the  other,  which  they  call  Putchamins,  grow  as  high  as  a  Palmcta,  the  fruit  is 
like  a  Medler,  it  is  first  green,  then  yellow,  and  red  when  it  is  ripe.  If  it  be  not 
ripe,  it  will  draw  a  man's  mouth  awry,  with  much  torment ;  but  when  it  is  ripe,  it  is 
delicious  as  an  apricot.  —  Smith's  Virginia,  Book  II. 

My  worthy  friends,  to  make  sure  of  happiness,  you  must  be  honest,  kind  to  one 
another,  and  cling  to  the  belief  in  a  better  world  to  come  like  a  "  possum  to  a  per- 
simmon tree."  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  II.  p.  292. 

Persimmon  Beer.  A  kind  of  domestic  beer  whose  principal  ingredient 
is  persimmons. 

Pert  end  up.     Better ;  more  cheerful.  —  Sherwood's  Georgia. 

Peskilt.  Confoundedly ;  very ;  extremely.  I  know  not  the  origin  of 
this  New  England  word. 

Skeered,  says  he,  sarves  him  right ;  he  might  have  known  how  to  feel  for  other 
folks,  and  not  funkify  them  so  peskily.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England. 
I  'm  peskily  sorry  about  that  mare.  —  Ibid.  ch.  28. 

27* 


3ia  PES  — P  HE 

The  post-office  accounts  were  the  next  bother  ;  and  they  puzzled  all  on  us  pesTcily. 
—  Maj.  Downiny's  Letters,  p.  139. 

Pesky.     1.  Plaguy,  confounded. 

I  found  it  [looking  for  houses]  a  pesky  sight  worse  job  than  I  expected.  — Down- 
ing, May-Day  in  Netu  York,  p.  36. 

Orphy  should  have  been  at  home  long  ago,  if  that  pesky  wheel  hadn't  come  off 
his  wagon.  — Fanny  Fern. 

A  couple  of  Yankee  girls  put  a  bullfrog  in  the  hired  man's  bed,  to  see  if  they 
couldn't  get  him  to  talk.  Daniel  threw  the  frog  ou,t  of  the  window,  and  never 
^-  said  a  word.  Soon  after  he  put  a  half  a  bushel  of  chestnut  burrs  in  the  girls'  bed  ; 
and  about  the  time  he  thouglit  they  would  make  the  least  shadow,  Daniel  went  to 
the  door  and  rattled  the  latch  furiously.  Out  went  the  candle,  and  in  went  the  girls ; 
but  they  didn't  stick,  though  the  buiTS  did.  Calling  on  them,  he  begged  them  to 
be  quiet,  for  he  only  wanted  to  know  if  they  had  "  seen  any  thing  of  that  pesky 
bullfrog.     He'd  a  gin  five  dollars  to  find  it.  —  Newspaper. 

2.  Confoundedly,  excessively. 

Don 't  be  so  pesky  starch.  I  '11  be  dod  fetched  if  I  meant  any  harm.  I  only  spoke 
of  the  calf,  and  you  went  a  streak  higher  and  talked  of  the  garter.  —  Sam  Slick, 
Human  Nature,  p.  19.5. 

I  wonder  how  he 's  on 't  for  face-cards ;  ha !  ha !  So  pesky  slow,  we  shan't  get 
through  to-night.  —  Margaret,  p.  30,5. 

The  thing  of  it  is,  people  has  got  to  be  so  pesky  proud  and  polite.  —  Ibid.  p.  141. 

Peter  Funk.  At  the  petty  auctions  a  person  is  employed  to  bid  on  ar- 
ticles put  up  for  sale,  in  order  to  raise  their  price.  Such  a  person  is 
called  a  Peter  Funk ;  probably  from  such  a  fictitious  name  having  fre- 
quently been  given  when  articles  Avere  bought  in.  At  the  "  mock  auc- 
tions," as  they  are  called  in  New  York,  this  practice  of  having  by-bidders 
is  carried  to  a  great  extent ;  and  strangers,  unacquainted  with  their  tricks, 
are  often  cheated  by  them.  Grose  describes  a  person  similarly  employed 
in  England,  under  the  name  of  "  puiFer." 

The  Peter  Funk  of  New  York  is  a  small-souled  pickpocket ;  he  does  not  exactly 
cut  through  your  coat  or  pants,  but  under  specious  pretences  he  induces  you  to  hand 
over  your  purse  to  him,  thus  virtually  making  a  cat's  paw  of  your  own  fist ;  he 
steals  your  cash,  but  does  it  under  a  flimsy  show  of  business ;  he  inveigles  you 
into  an  offer,  and  then  either  sells  you  one  article  and  delivers  you  another  which  is 
inferior,  or  multiplies  the  price  you  have  offered  and  the  quantity  you  engaged  to 
r—  /—         take.  —  Tricks  and  Traps  of  New  York  City. 

To  Pettifog.  Some  newspaper  writers  use  this  verb  transitively,  in  the 
sense  of  to  advocate  in  the  manner  of  a  pettifogger ;  as,  "  He  pettifogs 
his  client's  cause." 

Pewit,  or  Pewee.     See  Phoehe  Bird. 

Pheese.    a  fit  of  fretfulness.    A  colloquial,  vulgar  word  in  the  United 


PHI  — PIC  319 

States.  —  Worcester.     The  adjective  pheesy,  fretful,  querulous,  irritable, 
sore,  is  provincial  in  England.  —  Forby.     Also  written  feeze,  which  see. 

Phillipena.     See  Fillipeen. 

Ph(ebe-Bird.  (Sayorms  fuscus.)  The  Pewit,  or  Pewee,  so  called  from 
a  fanciful  resemblance  in  the  name  to  the  sound  made  by  this  bird. 

Another  of  the  feathered  visitors  who  follow  close  upon  the  steps  of  winter,  is  the 
Pewit,  Peewee,  or  Phoebe-Bird. — Irving,  Wol/ert's  Roost,  p.  31. 

PiCACHO.  (Span.)  A  prominent  peak  or  elevation  rising  abruptly  above 
a  mountain  or  chain  of  mountains.  They  are  common  land-marks  in 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona. 

Almost  due  north  of  the  Sierra  Verde  lies  the  picacho  of  the  Sierra  del  Babuqui- 
bari,  one  of  the  orographical  phenomena  of  the  country,  its  peculiarity  being  such 
as  to  attract  especially  the  attention  of  the  red  men.  — Schott's  Geological  Obs,  Mexican 
Boundary,  p.  70. 

Picayune.  The  name  for  the  Spanish  half  real  in  Florida,  Louisiana,  etc. 
See  Federal  Currency. 

Picayune,  or  Picayunish.     Sixpenny ;  and  hence  small,  mean. 

There  is  nothing  picayune  about  the  members  of  St.  George's  [Cricket]  Club ;  for 
the  love  of  sport,  they  will  almost  invariably  enter  upon  matches  that  other  clubs 
would  not  accept.  —  N.  Y.  Herald. 

"  Wall,  mister,"  he  said,  "  It 's  your  business,  not  mine ;  but  I  know  something  of 
that  boat.  She  belongs  to  that  darn  picayunish  old  coon,  Jim  Mason,  and  he  'II  run 
her  till  she  sinks  or  busts  up,  and  then  God  help  the  crowd." —  Notes  on  Canada,  etc., 
Blackwood's.  Mag. 

Pick.  In  mercantile  usage,  and  among  manufacturers,  a  pick  is  a  thread. 
The  relative  quality  of  cotton  cloth  is  denoted  by  the  number  of  picks 
it  has  to  the  inch. 

To  Pick.  In  the  South,  to  pick  the  banjo  or  guitar,  means  to  play  upon 
these  instruments.     Comp.  the  French  pincer. 

Pickaninny.  (Span,  pequeno  nino,  little  child.)  A  negro  or  mulatto 
infant.     Used  in  the  Southern  States. 

I  jest  sauntered  in  as  he  was  puttin'  up  the  pickaninny  yaller  gal,  about  five  years 
old. — Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

You  can't  be  too  warm,  nor  too  guarded  your  head, 

To  'scape  the  mosquito's  whim ; 
And  a  nice  picaninny  that 's  been  well  fed 

Is  a  capital  meal  for  him.  —  Ethiopian  Melodies. 

Pickerel  "Weed.  (Pontideria  cordata).  An  aquatic  plant  bearing  a 
spike  of  blue  flowers  common  on  the  roadsides  and  in  ditches  in  the  Middle 
States. 


320  PIC  — PIL 

Pickings  and  Stealings.     The  perquisites  of  office. 

Pick-up.  A  pick-up  dinner,  called  also  simply  a  pich-up,  is  a  dinner  made 
up  of  such  fragments  of  cold  meats  as  remain  from  former  meals.  The 
word  is  common  in  the  Northern  States. 

The  Queen  regretted  that  she  could  not  invite  me  to  stay  to  dinner,  cause  't  was 
washin'day  in  the  palace,  and  they  only  had  a  pick-up  dinner. — Maj.  Downing  in 
London. 

Piece.  1.  A  little  while ;  as,  "  Stay  a  piece"  i.  e.  wait  a  bit.  Provincial 
in  the  north  of  England.  —  Johnson. 

2.   A  piece  of  bread  and  butter ;   a  snack.     "  Have  you  had  your 
11  o'clock  jotcce  ?  " 

To  Piece.  To  eat  pieces  of  bread  and  butter,  to  eat  between  meals.  "  He 
has  n't  eaten  much  dinner,  because  he 's  been  apiecin'  on't  all  the  momin'." 
Pennsylvania. 

PiG-Fisii.     See  Sea-RoUn. 

PiG-NuT.     (Juglans  porcina.)     A  small  species  of  hickory  nut. 

Pig-Plum.     See  Hog-Plum. 

Pig's  Whistle.  "  I  '11  do  so  in  less  than  a  pig's  whistle,"  that  is  "  in  less 
than  no  time." 

Pig-Yoke.  Among  seamen,  the  name  for  a  quadrant,  from  its  resemblance 
to  a  pig-yoke. 

Pigeon-Roost.  The  social  and  gregarious  habits  of  pigeons,  incline  them 
to  roost  together,  and  their  places  of  resort  are  called  ^^pigeon-roosts." 
In  these  places  they  settle  on  all  the  trees  for  a  considerable  distance 
round  in  such  numbers  as  to  break  off  the  branches. — Flint's  Mississippi 
Valley. 

The  pigeon-roost  in  Decatur  county,  Indiana,  extends  over  a  distance  of  twenty- 
eight  miles  ;  it  is  about  fourteen  miles  wide.  The  birds  have  not  nested  at  this  roost 
for  thirty  years  until  this  spring.  Over  this  vast  extent  of  country  every  tree  has 
from  ten  to  fifteen  nests,  and  every  nest  at  least  one  bird.  The  young  are  now 
hardly  able  to  fly,  and  the  shooting  is  mere  slaughter.  The  old  birds  leave  early 
in  the  morning  in  search  of  food,  and  return  in  the  evening.  —  {Wash.)  Stales,  May 
I5th,  1858. 

Pigeon  Woodpecker.     See  Clape. 

Pile.  1.  (Dutch,  pyl)  An  arrow.  This  word  is  still  retained  by  the 
boys  of  New  York. 

2.  A  term  first  used  at  the  gaming-table,  and  next  by  our  California  ad- 
venturers, signifying  a  quantity  of  money.     Hence,  "  to  make  one's  pile" 


PIL  — PIN  321 

is  to  make  one's  fortune.  The  term  seems  to  be  the  revival  of  an  old 
one  used  by  Dr.  Franklin  in  his  "  Poor  Richard's  Almanac  "  for  April, 
1741,  where  he  says : 

Rash  mortals,  ere  you  take  a  wife, 
Contrive  your  pile  to  last  for  life. 
Alanthus  Bug  was  planted  in  the  world  as  a  pedlar  of  peanuts  ;  then  gradually 
grew  into  a  grocery  man  ;  then  budded  into  a  broker  ;  and  next  into  the  full  blos- 
som of  a  banker ;  and  now,  by  the  closest  economy,  he  has  amassed  a  million,  and 
can  point  to  his  pile  with  proud  satisfaction,  and  say,  "Alone,  I  did  it!  " — Cairo 
City  Times. 

Since  writing  to  you  last,  I  have  returned  from  Fraser  Kiver  to  San  Francisco, 
having  been  gone  about  four  months.  During  this  time,  with  my  own  hands  I  dug 
$25  worth  of  gold  dust,  and  my  expenses  were  about  $300 ;  however,  I  have 
clung  to  the  '■'pile,"  and  intend  to  keep  it  as  a  memorial  of  my  trip. — Letter  in  N. 
Y.  Tribune,  Oct.  25,  1858. 

PiLLOW-BiER  and  Pillow-slip  are  used  in  New  England  to  signify  a 
piUow-case. 

Pimento.     See  Allspice. 

Pimping.     Little  ;  petty ;  as,  "a pimping  thing." — Skinner.     Used  in  the 
interior  of  New  England. 

Was  I  little  1  asked  Margaret.  Yes,  and  pimpin'  enough.  And  I  fed  your  marm 
with  rue  and  comfrey-root,  or  ye  never 'd  come  to  this.  — Margaret,  p.  19. 

PiMPLO,  i.  e.  Pin-pillow.     The  name  given  in  Barbadoes  to  the  Prickly 
Pear. 

Pinch.     To  be  in  a  pinch,  is  to  be  in  a  tight  place ;  to  be  hard  up  for 
money.     Western. 

Pine-Barrens.     A  term  applied  to  level,  sandy  tracts,  covered  with  pine- 
trees,  in  the  Southern  States.  —  Worcester. 

The  road  which  I  had  to  travel  lay  through  a  dreary  and  extensive  forest  of  pine- 
trees,  or,  as  it  is  termed  by  the  Carolinians,  a  pine-barren,  where  a  habitation  is  sel- 
dom seen,  except  at  intervals  of  ten  or  twelve  miles.  — Lambert's  Travels,  Vol.  II. 
p.  226. 

Pine  Nut.    The  edible  nut  contained  in  the  cones  of  pine.     See  Pinion. 
Pine-tree  State.     The  State  of  Maine. 

PiNET  Woods.     The  name  given  at  the  South  to  a  large  tract  covered 
with  pines,  especially  in  the  low  country. 

Pinery.     In  the  Western  States,  a  place  where  pine-trees  grow,  or  a  forest 
of  pines.     A  Wisconsin  paper,  in  speaking  of  emigration,  says : 

We  have  noticed  squads  of  hardy  Suckers  from  Illinois,  with  their  baggage  slang 
upon  their  backs,  making  their  way  due  north  for  the  pineries. 


322  PIN  — PIP 

Ever  since  the  first  settlement  of  the  "West,  many  have  followed  the  business  of 
running  rafts  from  the  pineries  down  the  Mississippi.  — Sketches  of  the  West. 

Pinion.  (Span.,  pinon.)  A  species  of  pine-tree,  growing  on  the  head 
waters  of  the  Arkansas ;  common  to  that  region  as  well  as  to  New  Mex- 
ico, the  Rocky  Mountains,  etc.  Wild  turkeys  frequent  groves  of  these 
trees  for  the  sake  of  their  nuts,  which  are  sweet  and  palatable.  Bears 
and  other  animals  also  feed  on  them.  The  Indians,  too,  make  much  of 
them. 

Upon  each  side  of  the  Zuni  river  are  extensive  forests  of  small  cedars  and  pinans. 
—  Capt.  Whipple's  Explorations  to  the  Pacific,  p.  72. 

Pinky.  (Dutch,  pink.)  The  little  finger.  A  very  common  term  in  New 
York,  especially  among  small  children,  who,  when  making  a  bargain  with 
each  other,  are  accustomed  to  confirm  it  by  interlocking  the  little  finger 
of  each  other's  right  hands,  and  repeating  the  following  doggerel : 

Pinky,  pinky,  bow-bell, 

Whoever  tells  a  lie 

Will  sink  down  to  the  bad  place, 

And  never  rise  up  again. 

Pink  Root.  (Spigelia  marilandica.)  A  well-known  vermifuge,  the  plant 
being  remarkable  for  its  beautiful  flowers.  It  is  also  known  as  the  Caro- 
lina Pink. 

Pink-Stern.  (French,  pinque.)  A  vessel  with  a  narrow  stern;  hence 
all  vessels  so  formed  are  called  pinh-sterned.  —  Chambers.  This  species 
of  craft  is  very  common  in  the  waters  of  New  England.  See  Chehacco 
Boat. 

Pinnated  Grouse.     See  Prairie  Hen. 

Pinole.  (Span.)  Parched  com,  ground  and  mixed  with  sugar  and  spices. 
This,  mixed  with  water,  is  a  palatable  food,  and  is  much  used  in  Texas 
and  by  parties  crossing  the  plains. 

PmxTER.  (Dutch,  pinhster.)  Whitsunday.  On  Pinxter  Monday  the 
Dutch  negroes  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  elsewhere,  consider  them- 
selves especially  privileged  to  get  as  drunk  as  they  can. 

Pinkster  fields  and  pinkster  frolics  are  no  novelties  to  us,  sir,  as  they  occur  at 
every  season ;  and  I  am  just  old  enough  not  to  have  missed  one  of  them  all  for  the 
last  twelve  years.  — Cooper,  Satanstoe,  Vol.  I.  p.  90. 

PiNXTER  Blumachies,  i.  0.  Whitsuntide  flowers.  (Dutch.)  A  famihar 
name  in  the  State  of  New  York  for  the  Swamp  Honeysuckle  and  other 
early  flowers. 

To  Pipe.     To  follow ;  to  waylay. 


PIP  — PIS  323 

It  is  the  business  of  all  policemen  to  make  themselves  familiar  with  the  haunts  of 
burglars,  thieves,  and  gamblers,  to  pipe  or  follow  them,  and  be  ready  at  any  moment 
to  nab  them  in  the  act  of  crime.  — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Pipe-laying.  This  term,  in  political  parlance,  means  any  arrangement  by 
which  a  party  makes  sure  of  a  certain  addition  to  its  legitimate  strength 
in  the  hour  of  trial  —  that  is,  the  election.  In  other  words,  to  lay  pipe 
means  to  bring  up  voters  not  legally  qualified. 

It  were  too  long  a  story  to  tell  the  origin  of  the  term  at  length.  In 
brief,  it  arose  from  an  accusation  brought  against  the  Whig  party  of  this 
city  (New  York)  some  years  ago,  of  a  gigantic  scheme  to  bring  on  voters 
from  Philadelphia.  The  accusation  was  made  by  a  notorious  Democrat, 
of  not  very  pure  political  character,  who  professed  to  have  derived  his 
information  from  the  agent  employed  by  the  Whigs  for  the  service. 
This  agent  had  actually  been  employed  by  certain  leadex's  of  the  Wliig 
party,  but  on  a  service  deemed  legitimate  and  proper  in  the  art  of  elec- 
tioneering. He,  however,  turned  traitor,  and,  as  was  alleged  by  the 
Whigs,  concocted  a  plot  with  the  notorious  Democrat  to  throw  odium 
upon  the  Whigs.  A  mass  of  correspondence  was  brought  forward  in 
proof,  consisting  mainly  of  letters  written  by  the  agent  to  various  parties 
in  New  York,  apparently  describing  the  progress  and  success  of  his  ope- 
rations. In  these  letters,  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  concealment,  the  form 
of  a  mere  business  correspondence  was  adopted  —  the  number  of  men 
hired  to  visit  New  York  and  vote  being  spoken  of  as  so  many  yards  of 
pipe  —  the  work  of  laying  down  pipe  for  the  Croton  water  being  at  that 
time  in  full  activity. 

The  Whig  leaders  were  indicted  on  the  strength  of  these  pseudo  reve- 
lations, and  the  letters  were  read  in  court ;  but  the  jury  believed  neither 
in  them  nor  in  the  writer  of  them,  and  the  accused  were  acquitted. 

The  term  "pipe-laying  "  however,  was  at  once  adopted  as  a  synonym 
for  negotiations  to  procure  fraudulent  votes.  —  \_J.  Inman.~\ 

The  result  of  the  Pennsylvania  election  would  not  be  in  the  least  doubtful,  if  we 
could  be  assured  of  fair  play  and  no  pipe-laying. — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Oct.  30,  1848. 

There  is  a  magnificent  scheme  of  pipe-laying  and  log-rolling  going  on  in  Pennsyl- 
vania.—iV.  Y.  Herald,  Sept.  1856. 

PiPSissEWA.  (  Chimaphila  umbellata.)  A  popular  domestic  remedy,  much 
used  by  the  Indians  and  now  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia.  Also  called 
Prince's  Pride  and  Wintergreen. 

Pirogue.     See  Periauger. 

PiSTAREEN.  The  Spanish  peseta  Semllana,  or  one  fifth  of  a  dollar.  A 
silver  coin,  formerly  common  in  the  United  States,  of  the  value  of  twenty 
cents.     They  have  now  gone  entirely  out  of  use. 


324  PIT  — PLA 

Pit.  (Dutch,  pit,,  a  kernel.)  The  stone  of  a  fruit,  as  of  a  cherry  or  peach. 
Mostly  confined  to  New  York  State. 

You  put  an  apple-seed  or  a  peach-p2V  into  the  ground,  and  it  springs  up  into  the 
form  of  a  miniature  tree.  —  Prof.  Bush  on  the  Resurrection. 

Pita,  pron.  peeta.  The  name  given  to  the  fine  fibres  produced  by  the 
agaves  and  kindred  plants,  used  for  sewing  and  other  delicate  purposes. 
The  name  is  also  applied  to  the  plants  which  furnish  the  fibre. 

PiTAHAYA.  {Cereus  jgiganteus.)  A  gigantic  cactus  found  in  New  Mexico, 
and  which  appears  in  the  greatest  perfection  in  the  sterile  deserts 
bordering  on  the  river  Gila,  where  it  reaches  the  height  of  fifty  and 
sixty  feet.  It  bears  a  delicious  fruit  resembUng  the  fig  in  taste,  whence 
it  is  sometimes  called  the  Indian  Fig. 

PiTPAN.  In  the  West  Indies  and  Central  America,  a  very  long,  narrow, 
flat-bottomed,  trough-like  canoe,  with  thin  and  flat  projecting  edges. 

Pitt.  To  think  a  pity  of  a  person,  is  to  take  pity  on  him.  It  is  a  pity  of 
one,  means  he  is  to  be  pitied. 

PizARKO.     A  corruption  of  piazza.     New  England. 

To  Place.  T!o place  a  person,  is  to  remember  the  place  where  he  belongs 
or  was  born. 

Placer.  (Span.)  A  locality  where  gold  is  found  to  exist  in  the  "  dust'* 
or  scaly  form.  The  Hispano- Americans  apply  the  term  to  deposits  of 
sand  formed  by  the  action  of  water,  the  currents  of  rivers,  etc.,  or  what 
geologists  would  call  diluvium  or  drift.  Our  people  use  the  word  to  sig- 
nify a  rich  mine  of  minerals  or  of  any  thing  else  that  is  valuable. 

The  Homer  of  Chapman  is  so  precious  a  gift,  that  we  are  ready  to  forgive  Mr. 
Smith's  [the  publisher's]  shortcomings,  in  consideration  of  it.  It  is  a  vast  placer,  full 
of  nuggets  for  the  philologist  and  lover  of  poetry. — Atlantic  Alonthly,  April,  1858. 

The  Washington  Market  question,  involving  a  contest  between  the  State  and  the 
city,  furnishes  a  perfect  placer  in  the  shape  of  fees  for  some  of  our  leading  lawyers. 
—N.  Y.  Herald,  May  18,  1858. 

Plaguy.     Horribly,  awfully,  exceedingly.    And  so  in  England. 

The  circumstances  of  the  case  should  make  the  committee  less  "  avidus  gloriae," 
for  all  praise  of  them  would  look  plaguy  suspicious.  —  Lord  Byron  to  Lord  Hd- 
land,  Let.  107. 

The  Prince  de  Joinville  is  a  plaguy  handsome  man,  and  as  full  of  "fun  as  a  kit- 
ten. —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  eh.  22. 

Plaguy  Sight.  This  is  a  very  common  expression  in  the  colloquial 
language  of  New  England,  and  means,  a  great  deal. 

"Squire,"  said  Slick,  "I'd  a  plaguy  sight  sooner  see  Ascot  than  any  thing  else 
in  England."  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  19. 


PL  A  325 

Plane-tree.  Another  name  for  the  Sycamore  or  Button-wood  tree.  See 
Button-wood. 

Planing-Machine.  a  machine  operated  by  steam  or  water-power  for 
smoothing  boards. 

Plank.  A  platform  in  a  political  sense  is  a  constitution ;  and  as  plat- 
forms are  literally  composed  of  planks,  so,  in  the  same  iBgurative  sense, 
planks  are  the  several  political  principles  which  appertain  to  a  party. 
See  Platform,  No.  2. 

The  Free  Soil  party  regard  every  plank  and  splinter  of  the  Bufifalo  platform  as 
a  relic  of  untold  value.  — Providence  Journal. 

To  Plank.  To  lay,  to  put ;  generally  applied  to  money ;  as,  "  He 
planked  down  (or  planked  up)  the  cash." 

I'xQ  hdii.  to planh  down  handsome,  and  do  the  thing  genteel;  but  Mr.  Landlord 
found  he  had  no  fool  to  deal  with,  neither.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England. 

"Why,  says  he,  shell  out,  axiA  plank  down  a  pile  of  dollars.  — Ibid. 

During  the  last  war  he  planked  up  more  gold  and  silver  to  lend  the  government 
than  Benton  ever  counted.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  59. 

Come,  plank  up  the  tin.  I  '11  show  you  that  Jim  Borland  ain't  a  goin'  to  be 
backed  out  by  mere  bragging.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  163. 

Planked  Shad.     A  shad  nailed  to  a  plank  and  roasted. 

Did  you  ever  eat  a  planked  shad?  Then  you  have  something  yet  to  live 
for  —  your  dish  of  enjoyment  is  not  yet  full,  until  you  have  a  shad  caught  fresh 
from  the  water,  cleaned  and  crucified  to  an  oak  plank,  which  is  held  to  the  fire, 
and  seasoned  properly  with  salt,  pepper,  and  butter,  and  served  up  hot.  It  is, 
of  all  fish  dishes,  the  daintiest,  richest,  and  most  satisfactory  in  an  appetitical 
point  of  view.  —  Bait.  Sun,  April  30,  1855. 

Plank  Road.  A  road  made  with  a  flooring  of  planks  laid  across  the 
track,  a  substitute  for  turnpikes,  where  timber  is  cheap. 

Plantain.  (Span,  platano)  The  fruit  of  the  Musa  paradisiaca,  im- 
ported from  the  West  Indies. 

Plantation.  An  estate  appropriated  to  the  production  of  staple  crops,  as 
the  sugar-cane,  cotton,  rice,  tobacco,  coffee,  etc.,  by  slave  labor. 

Planter.  1.  A  proprietor  of  land  in  the  Southern  States  who  cultivates 
staple  crops  by  slave  labor. 

2.  In  Newfoundland,  a  person  engaged  in  the  fishery. 

3.  A  term  applied  to  a  piece  of  timber  or  the  naked  trunk  of  a  tree^ 
one  end  of  which  is  firmly  planted  in  the  bed  of  a  river,  while  the  other 
rises  near  the  surface  of  the  water.  This  is  the  most  dangerous  among 
the  "  snag  and  sawyer  "  family,  to  which  vessels  navigating  the  "Western 
rivers  are  exposed.     See  Snag  and  Sawyer. 

28 


PLA 

Platform.  1.  In  some  parts  of  the  New  England  States,  an  ecclesiastical 
constitution,  or  a  plan  for  the  government  of  churches  ;  as,  the  Cambridge 
or  Saybrook  'platform.  —  Webster.  The  same  use  of  this  word  is  made 
by  English  divines. 

Their  minds  and  affections  were  universally  bent,  even  against  all  the  orders  and 
laws  wherein  the  church  is  founded,  conformable  to  the  plat/oi-m  of  Geneva. — 
Hooker. 

A  Platform  of  Church  Discipline,  gathered  out  of  the  "Word  of  God,  and  agreed 
upon  by  the  elders  and  messengers  of  the  churches  assembled  at  the  synod  in  Cam- 
bridge in  New  England. — Title  of  Book  printed  in  London,  1653. 

2.  Of  late  years  the  word  has  got  into  very  common  use  throughout 
the  country  to  denote  the  collection  of  principles  avowed  by  a  political 
party. 

The  people  should  distrust  a  bad  man,  even  if  put  upon  the  best  platform  that 
ever  was  constructed,  and  every  plank  of  which  could  be  stood  upon  by  every  Amer- 
ican citizen.  In  like  manner  they  will  trust  and  confide  in  a  man  whom  they  believe 
to  be  pure,  and  honest,  and  patriotic,  and  capable,  without  regard  to  the  platform  he 
stands  upon,  and  without  caring,  in  truth,  whether  he  stands  upon  one  at  all.  — 
Lynchburg  Virginian,  Aug.  1858. 

Plata.  (Span.)  A  beach ;  a  strand ;  a  shore.  In  the  plains  and  deserts 
of  the  interior,  a  broad,  level  spot,  Avliere  water  accumulates  after  rains, 
and  which  afterwards  becomes  dry  by  evaporation.  These  playas.. are 
prominent  features  in  the  topography  of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Ari- 
zona. They  are  also  called  "  salt  lakes,"  from  the  nitrous  efflorescence 
with  which  they  are  often  covered  when  dry ;  and  which,  at  a  distance, 
leads  the  traveller  to  believe  they  are  basins  of  water. 

We  had  a  perfectly  smooth  road  to  the  playa,  which  at  present  is  a  hard,  smooth, 
and  apparently  level  area  of  about  fifteen  miles  in  length,  by  nearly  ten  in  width, 
without  a  particle  of  vegetation.  These  playas,  in  my  opinion,  have  no  outlet,  and 
are  so  nearly  level  that  the  rain  and  drain  waters  are  spread  over  a  large  suiface ; 
and  there  being  but  little  absorption,  and  very  rapid  evaporization,  it  is  left  smooth 
and  baked.  — Lieut.  Parke's  Report  of  Survey  for  Pacific  R.  R.  Official  Reports, 
Vol.  II. 

Emerging  from  tlie  pass  into  the  plain,  our  eyes  were  greeted  with  the  sight  of  a 
long  white  streak,  which  we  ^vould  have  taken  for  a  lake,  had  it  not  been  called  the 
Playas.  This  playa  seemed  to  have  an  extent  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles.  The 
surface  was  an  indurated  clay,  so  hard  that  the  wheels  of  our  wagons  scarce  made 
an  impression.  After  rain,  tliis  basin  receives  a  large  amount  of  water,  which  seems 
to  evaporate  before  vegetation  gets  a  foothold.  — Bartlett's  Personal  Narrative,  Vol. 
I.  p.  246. 

Play-actor.  A  pleonastic  expression  for  the  English  term  player  or 
actor.  It  is  objectionable,  because  the  term  actor  is  itself  a  technical 
word  which  expresses  the  full  meaning  conveyed  by  the  compound. 

That  which  was  Shakspeare's  specialty,  we  mean  his  wonderful  dramatic  faculty, 
was  not  discovered  by  himself  till  it  became  useful  to  liim  in  his  business.    For 


PLA  — PLU  827 

Shakspeare's  avocation  was  that  of  a  play-actor,  and  subsequently,  as  a  successful 
one,  a  play-house  owner.  —  (Bait.)  Sun,  Nov.  12,  1858. 

To  Plat  Possum.  "He's  playing  'possum  vnthjou,"  is  a  common  ex- 
pression at  the  South  and  West,  and  means  that  he  is  deceiving  you. 
The  opossum,  when  attacked  by  a  dog,  pretends  to  be  dead,  and  thus 
often  deceives  his  pursuers  ;  hence  the  expression. 

Thinks  I,  That  girl  is  jest  trying  of  me  :  't  aint  no  use  of  playing  possum ;  if  I 
don't  fetch  her  out  of  that  high  grass,  use  me  for  sausage  meat.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of 
the  Times. 

I  will  play  possum  with  these  folks,  and  take  a  rise  out  of  them  that  will  astonish 
their  weak  nerves.  — S.  Slick,  Nature  and  Human  Nature,  p.  14. 

That  are  stranger 's  only  playin'  possum,  but  he  can't  pull  the  wool  over  this 
child's  eyes  ;  he 's  got  'em  botli  skinned.  — A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p.  96. 

Plaza.  (Span.)  A  pubKc  square.  A  term  used  in  California  and  other 
countries  recently  acquired  from  the  Mexicans. 

Plead  or  Pled,  for  pleaded.  It  has  been  correctly  remarked  that  there 
is  no  such  word  as  pled  in  the  English  language.  It  is  true  that  the  pre- 
terite and  past  participle  of  the  verb  to  read  is  pronounced  red;  but  there 
is  no  analogy  between  the  two  verbs,  except  their  accidental  similarity  of 
sound.  The  former  is  the  Anglo-Saxon  verb  rceda?i,  and  is  conjugated 
accordingly  ;  whereas  the  latter  is  the  old  French  plaider,  and  therefore 
cannot  admit  of  what  philologists  caU  the  "  strong  inflexion."  This  vul- 
gar mistake  is  often  met  with  in  our  reports  of  legal  proceedings  and  else- 
where. But  it  is  not  of  recent  origin,  nor  is  it  exclusively  American ;  as 
is  shown  by  the  following  example  from  Spenser,  furnished  by  Richard- 
son: 

With  him        ....        came 

Many  grave  persons  that  against  her  pled. 

Spenser,  Fairy  Queen. 

An  old  offender  was  caught  last  night  in  a  warehouse,  with  a  dark  lantern  and  all 
the  other  implements  of  his  profession,  and  next  morning  innocently  plead  "  som- 
nambulism," when  brought  before  the  magistrate  —  having  no  recollection  of  the 
doings  of  the  night  since  he  went  to  bed,  early  in  the  evening,  and  found  himself  iu 
the  watch-house  in  the  morning.  — New  York  Paper. 

Pleurisy  Root.  (Asclepias  tuberosa.)  A  root  which  is  expectorant 
and  diaphoretic,  as  well  as  a  mild  tonic  and  stimulant. 

Plug.     1.  Applied  by  dentists  to  a  filling  of  gold  or  other  material  in- 
serted in  a  tooth. 
2.  A  stick  of  tobacco. 

Plug  Ugly.  A  term  assumed  by  a  gang  of  rowdies  in  Baltimore.  It 
originally  belonged  to  certain  fire  companies. 


828  PLU  — POA 

Pltjmb,  often  written  Plum.  Directly,  exactly.  South-western.  In  Eng- 
lish colloquial  language  both  plump  and  plumb  (or  plum)  are  used  in  this 
sense. 

I  tole  the  boys  if  they  'd  come  with  me,  I  'd  show  them  one  of  the  most  owdacious 
big  rattlesnakes  they  'd  ever  seen,  what  I  'd  jest  kilt.  Abel  said  he  was  the  man 
what  could  pack  him  plum  home  without  taking  a  long  breath.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the 
Times. 

I  levelled  my  rifle  at  the  bear,  and  shot  him  plumb  through  the  heart.  —  Western 
Sketches. 

He  came  up  and  looked  me  right  plum  in  the  face,  as  savage  as  a  meat-axe,  and 
says  he,  "  Give  us  your  paw."  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  32. 

The  ninth  day  come,  and  we  struck  a  streak  of  good  luck  —  a  horse  give  out  and 
broke  down  plumb  in  the  centre  of  an  open  prairie.  —  G.  W.  Kendall,  Story  of  Bill 
Dean. 

The  original  signification  of  this  word  is,  as  the  plummet  hangs,  per- 
pendicular to  the  horizon,  straight  down ;  and  hence  its  secondary  mean- 
ing of  straightforward,  directly.  Both  uses  are  well  illustrated  in  the 
following  examples.  This  term,  which  many  suppose  an  original  West- 
emism,  is  found  in  several  English  writers.     Thus  Milton  says : 

He  meets 
A  vast  vacuity,  all  unawares. 
Fluttering  his  pennons  vain,  plumb  down  he  falls. 

Paradise  Lost. 
Never  was  there  a  more  sensible  blunder  than  the  following.    We  recommend  it 
as  a  motto  to  gentlemen  in  the  army.     "  The  best  way,"  said  Sir  Boyle,  "  to  avoid 
danger,  is  to  meet  it  plumb."  — Barrington,  Sketches. 

Plumb-centre.     Directly  at  the  centre,  in  shooting  at  a  mark.     "Western. 

We  'd  been  a  watchin'  'em  all  day,  for  we  knowd  thar  war  somethin'  ugly  afoot. 
We  seed  'em  both  fire  acrost  the  gleed,  an'  right  plum  centre  at  young  Randolph.  — 
Capt.  Mayne  Reed,  Osceola,  p.  415. 

Plunder.  Personal  luggage,  baggage  of  travellers,  goods,  furniture, 
effects.  A  very  common  word  throughout  the  Southern  and  Western 
States,  corresponding  to  the  Norman  French  hutin  (booty,  goods),  which 
is  used  in  Canada  for  baggage. 

When  we  got  loaded  up,  I  was  afraid  old  Bosen  was  going  to  have  more  'n  his 
match  to  pull  us,  they  'd  put  in  so  much  plunder.  Two  trunks,  band-boxes,  etc.  — 
Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  ■p.  165. 

"  Help  yourself,  stranger,"  added  the  landlord,  "  while  I  tote  your  plunder  into 
the  other  room."  — Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West,  Let.  33. 

The  steamboat  gun,  you  know,  is  the  signal  to  tell  us  when  to  look  after  our 
plunder.  — Simms,  Wi(jwam  and  Cabin. 

To  Poach.  To  tread  soft  ground^  or  snow  and  water,  as  cattle,  whose  feet 
penetrate  the  soil  or  soft  substance  and  leave  deep  tracks.  New  Eng- 
land. 


POC  — POK  329 

PocosON  or  Poquoson.  Low  wooded  grounds  or  swamps  in  Eastern 
Maryland  and  Virginia,  mostly  dry  in  summer  and  covered  with  water 
in  winter.  They  are  covered  with  white  oak  and  other  timber.  They 
are  sometimes  distinguished  as  white  oak  or  cypress  pocosons. 

We  rowed  up  an  arm  of  tlie  sound,  where  we  were  stopped  by  a  miry  pocason, 
through  wliich  we  were  obliged  to  draggle  on  foot,  up  to  our  knees  in  mud.  — Byrd, 
Hist,  of  the  Dividing  Line,  p.  15. 

Pocket-book  Dropper.  A  mode  of  deception  practised  by  city  sharp- 
ers on  country  flats,  at  steamboat  landings  and  other  places  where  there 
is  a  bustle,  is  for  one  of  the  rogues  to  drop  a  pocket-book  well  filled  with 
worthless  bank-notes.  This  his  confedei'ate  picks  up  and  opens  directly 
in  sight  of  the  victim.  He  regrets  that  he  has  not  time  to  search  out  the 
owner,  who  will  be  sure  to  give  a  handsome  reward,  and  offers  to  sui-ren- 
der  the  prize  to  his  rural  friend  for  say  ten  dollars.  All  ends  as  in  the 
"  Patent  Safe  Game,"  which  see. 

No  man,  boy,  or  greenhorn  was  ever  yet  victimized  by  the  Pocket-book  Droppers, 
the  Thimble  Riggers,  or  the  Patent  Safe  men,  who  did  n't  have  so  strong  a  spice  of 
the  scamp  in  his  own  composition,  as  to  think  he  was  coming  a  sure  and  profitable 
swindle  upon  some  one  not  up  to  his  own  level  of  sharpness  and  treachery.  —  Tricks 
and  Traps  of  New  York  City,  p.  24. 

Pocket-book  Dropping.  The  species  of  knavery  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding article. 

Pocket4)ook  Dropping  may  almost  be  considered  as  one  of  the  by-gones ;  it  being 
very  seldom  attempted  except  in  cases  of  very  aggravated  verdancy  on  the  part  of 
tlie  victim.  — Tricks  and  Traps  of  New  York  City,  p.  24. 

PoHAGEN,  or  Pauhagen.     1.  A  species  of  sea-fish.     See  Menhaden. 
2.   The  term  is  also  applied  to  a  kind  of  paste-bait  for  mackerel,  etc., 
made  of  damaged  and  frequently  putrid  fish,  chopped  or  ground  in  a  cut- 
ting mill. 

Poke.  1.  A  bag.  I  have  heard  this  old  word  used  by  some  persons  here 
in  the  compound  term  cream-poke  ;  that  is,  a  small  bag  through  which 
cream  is  strained.  — Pickering. 

2.  In  New  England,  a  machine  to  prevent  unruly  beasts  from  leaping 
fences,  consisting  of  a  yoke  with  a  pole  inserted  pointing  forward.  — 

Webster. 

3.  A  lazy  person,  a  dawdle;  as,  "  What  a  slow jpo^e  you  are!"     A 
woman's  word. 

4.  Or  PoKE-AVEED.    (^Phytolacca  decandra.)    A  common  plant,  known 
also  by  the  names  of  Garget,  Cocum,  Jalap,  etc.     It  is  a  violent  emetic. 

Poke-Berry.  The  berry  of  the  Phytolacca,  from  which  a  rich  purple 
juice  is  extracted,  and  used  as  a  dye.  It  is  a  favorite  food  for  tame  mock- 
ing birds. 

28* 


330  P  0  K 

To  Poke.     To  put  a  poke  on  ;  as,  to  poke  an  ox.  —  Webster. 

To  Poke  Fun.     To  joke ;  to  make  fun.     To  pohe  fun  at,  is  to  ridicule, 
make  a  butt  of  one.     Colloquial  in  England  and  America. 
O  fie  !  Mister  Noakes,  —  for  shame,  Mr.  Noakes ! 
To  be  poking  yovir  fun  at  us  plain-dealing  folks. 
Sir,  this  is  n't  a  time  to  be  cracking  your  jokes. 
And  such  jesting  your  malice  but  scurvily  cloaks. 
And  we  know  very  well  your  story 's  a  hoax  ! 

Ingoldshy  Legends,  Vol.  I.  p.  280. 
I  thought  you  was  pokin'fun  at  me ;  for  I  am  a  poor  ignorant  farmer,  and  these 
people  are  always  making  game  of  me.  — Sa/n  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  124. 

The  widow  admonished  Nimrod,  and  said,  "  You  had  better  not  be  pokin'  your 
fun  about."  — Margaret,  p.  49. 

Jeames,  if  you  don't  be  (\VL\i  poking  fun  at  me,  I'll  break  your  mouth,  as  sure  as 
you  sit  there.  — Neal's  Charcoal  Sketches. 

How  streaked  a  captain  feels  when  he  sees  a  steamboat  a  clippin*  it  by  him  like 
mad,  and  the  folks  on  board  pokin'fun  at  him,  and  askia'  him  if  he  has  any  word 
to  send  home  !  —  Sam  Slick. 

Poke-Bonnet.  A  long,  straight  bonnet,  much  worn  by  Quakers  and 
Methodists. 

Poke-loken.  An  Indian  word,  used  by  hunters  and  lumbermen  in  Maine, 
to  denote  a  marshy  place  or  stagnant  pool,  extending  into  the  land  from 
a  stream  or  lake. 

The  wild  fowl  are  amazing  fond  of  pokelokens.  — Sam  Slick. 
Crocodiles  can  cry  when  they  are  hungry ;  but  when  they  do,  it 's  time  to  vamose 
the  pokelokens.  — Id.  Human  Nature,  p.  331. 

Poker.  1.  (Dan.  pokker,  Welsh,  pwca,  a  hobgoblin.)  Any  frightful 
object,  especially  in  the  dark ;  a  bugbear.  A  word  in  common  use  in 
America.  —  Webster. 

2.   A  favorite  game  of  cards  among  Western  gamblers. 

At  a  court  in ,  Kentucky,  the  case  of  Smith  vs.  Bi'own  was   called  up. 

"  Who  's  for  the  plaintiff?  "  inquired  the  judge,  impatiently. 

"May  it  please  the  court,"  said  a  rising  member  of  the  legal  fraternity,  "Pilkins 
is  for  the  plaintiiF;  but  I  left  him  just  now  over  in  the  tavern  playing  a  game  of 
poker.  He  's  got  a  '  sucker '  there,  and  he  is  sure  to  skin  him  if  he  only  has  time. 
He  's  got  the  thing  all  set  to  ring  a  '  cold  deck,'  in  which  case  he  '11  deal  for  himself 
four  aces  and  his  opponent  four  queens  ;  so  that  your  honor  will  perceive  he  must 
'  rake  the  persimmons.'  " 

"  Dear  me !  "  said  the  judge,  with  a  sigh,  that 's  too  bad  !  It  happens  at  a  very 
unfortunate  time ;  I  am  very  anxious  to  get  on  with  these  cases." 

A  brown  study  followed,  and  at  length  a  happy  idea  struck  the  judge. 

"  Bill,"  said  he,  addressing  the  friend  of  the  absent  Pilkins,  who  had  spoken,  "you 
■understand  poker  about  as  well  as  Pilkins.  Suppose  you  go  over  and  play  his  hand." 
—  Western  paper. 


POK— PON  331 

PoKERiSH.  Frightful ;  causing  fear,  especially  to  children.  A  childish  or 
colloquial  word.  —  Worcester. 

A.  curious  old  convent  [in  Naples]  with  chapels  above  and  below  —  a  pokerish 
looking  place,  fit  for  treasons,  stratagems,  and  spoils.  — N.  Y.  Literary  World,  Aug. 
1847. 

Poky.     Dull,  stupid. 

That 's  the  way  we  girls  studied  at  school  except  a  few  pokey  ones,  who  wanted 
to  be  learned. — Airs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  138. 
A  polcey  old  house  like  ours.  —  Miss  FuUerton,  Grantley  Manor. 

Political  Capital.  Political  stock  in  trade,  means  of  pohtical  advance- 
ment. 

All  who  feel  an  interest  in  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  who  are  not  disposed  to 
turn  every  thing  into  political  capital,  must  feel  rejoiced  over  the  result  in  Kansas. 
—  New  York  Times,  Oct.  14,  1857. 

To  Politic  ATE.     To  make  a  trade  of  politics. 

He  [Senator  Hunter]  proposes  to  put  all  new  clerks  into  the  lower  oflSces,  and  to 
promote  them  for  services  rendered  and  for  efficiency.  Nobody  can  doubt  that  this 
is  a  most  admirable  plan.  It  would  stop  the  quadrennial  rush  to  Washington,  and 
make  many  a  citizen  quit  politicating  and  turn  to  hard  work.  —  Richmond  Whig, 
July,  1858. 

PoMME  Blanche.  {Psoralea  esculenta.)  A  native  of  the  praiiies  and 
mountains,  oval-shaped  and  about  three  and  a  half  inches  in  circumfer- 
ence. It  is  encased  in  a  thin  fibrous  tegument,  which,  when  removed, 
exposes  a  white  pulpy  substance,  and  in  taste  resembles  a  turnip.  Called 
also  Pomme  de  Prairie  and  Indian  Turnip. 

PojVIPion  Berry.  Another  name  for  the  fruit  of  Celtis  occidentalis.  See 
Hachherry. 

Pond.  We  give  this  name  to  collections  of  water  in  the  interior  country, 
which  are  fed  by  springs,  and  from  which  issues  a  small  stream.  These 
ponds  are  often  a  mile  or  two  or  even  more  in  length,  and  the  current 
issuing  from  them  is  used  to  drive  the  wheels  of  mills  and  furnaces. — 
Wehster. 

There  were  streams  meandering  among  hills  and  valleys ;  little  lakes  or  ponds,  as 
they  were  erroneously  called  in  the  language  of  the  country,  dotted  the  surface.  — 
Cooper,  Satanstoe,  Vol.  I.  p.  144. 

Pone.  Bread  made  of  the  meal  of  Indian  com,  with  the  addition  of  eggs 
and  milk.  Southern.  William  Penn  in  his  account  of  Pennsylvania, 
published  in  1683,  says  pone  was  the  Indian  name  for  bread. 

In  a  poetical  work  called  the  "  Sot- weed  Factor,  or  a  voyage  to  Mary- 
land, London,  1708,"  the  author  thus  describes  the  tables  of  the  planters. 


332  PON  — POP 

While  pone  and  milk,  with  mush  well  stored, 
In  wooden  dishes  graced  the  board ; 
With  homine  and  cyder  pap 
Which  scarce  a  hungry  dog  would  lap. 

Wo  all  clustered  around  the  fire,  the  landlady  alone  passing  through  our  semi- 
circle, as  she  prepared  the  pone  and  fry,  and  coffee  for  supper.  —  Olmsted's  Texas. 

PoNT-PURSE.  A  subscription  collected  upon  the  spot,  or  from  a  few  per- 
sons. 

To  Pont  up.     A  vulgar  phrase,  meaning  to  pay  over  money.  Ex.  "  Come, 
Mr.  Brown,  pony  up  that  account ; "  that  is,  pay  over  the  money.     Grose 
gives  a  phrase  similar  to  it :  "  Post  the  pony,"  i.  e.  lay  down  the  money. 
It  was  my  job  to  pay  all  the  bills.     "  Salix,  pony  up  at  the  bar,  and  lend  us  a 
levy."  —  J.  C.  Need,  Sketches. 

Poor  Doe.  Among  the  Texan  hunters  the  term  poor  doe  ia  applied, 
regardless  of  gender,  to  any  deer  that  may  happen  to  be  lean.  —  G.  W. 
Kendall. 

In  less  time  than  it  takes  us  to  record  it,  the  veteran  hunter  had  cut  a  shoulder 
and  some  of  the  more  delicate  and  eatable  portions  from  the  deer ;  and  then,  rolling 
the  remainder  and  larger  portion  out  of  the  way  with  his  foot,  remarked  that  it  was 
but  "  poor  doe."  I  told  him  that  it  was  no  doe  at  all,  but  a  young  buck  —  I  could 
not  say  much  as  to  its  fatness.  He  gave  another  half-laugh,  etc.  —  Kendall's  Santa 
Fe- Exped.,  Yol.l.^.Zb, 

POOQUATT.  (Narraganset  Ind.,  poquawhock.)  The  round  clam,  so  called 
in  Nantucket.  In  other  parts  of  New  England  it  is  shortened  to  Qua- 
haug. 

The  Poquauhoclc  is  a  little  thick  shell-fish  which  the  Indians  wade  deepe  and  dive 
for;  and  after  they  have  eaten  the  meat  there  (in  those  which  are  good),  they  breake 
out  of  the  shell  about  halfe  an  inch  of  a  blacke  part  of  it,  of  which  tliey  make  their 
Suckafihock,  or  black  money,  which  is  to  them  pretious.  —  Roger  Williams,  in  R.  I. 
Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  I.  pp.  104,  130. 

Poor  Folksy.     Like,  or  after  the  fashion  of,  poor  people.     Southern. 

Poor  "White  Folks.  A  term  applied  by  the  blacks  to  the  poor  white 
population  of  the  South,  also  called  the  Mean  Whites.  A  common  and 
still  more  contemptuous  appellation  is  Poor  White  Trash.  See  White 
Trash. 

Poor  White  Folksy.  Like  or  after  the  fashion  of  the  Poor  "White 
Folks.     Southern. 

As  for  making  up  my  mind  to  like  my  new  master,  you  may  preach  till  your  hair 
turns  grey  and  I  wont  do  it.  For  all  his  shiny  boots  and  spick-span  broadcloth, 
he  looks  dreadful  poor-white-foUcsy  to  me.  —  The  Hidden  Path. 

To  Pop  Corn.    To  parch  or  roast  Indian  corn  until  it  "  pops  "  open.  The 


POP  — POR  333 

com  is  laid  over  the  fire  on  a  shovel  or  wire  gauze  made  for  the  purpose, 
until  it  bursts,  when  it  curls  up,  swells  to  treble  its  size,  and  exposes  its 

white  interior. 

One  autumn  night  when  the  wind  was  high. 

And  the  rain  fell  in  heavy  plashes, 
A  little  boy  sat  by  the  kitchen  fire, 

A  popping  com  in  the  ashes. 
And  his  sister,  a  curly-haired  child  of  three, 
Sat  looking  on  just  close  to  his  knee. 

Pop,  pop  !  and  the  kernels  one  by  one, 

Came  out  of  the  embers  flying ; 
The  boy  held  a  long  pine  stick  in  his  hand, 

And  kept  it  busily  plying. 
He  stirred  the  corn  and  it  snapped  the  more. 

And  faster  jumped  to  the  clean  white  floor.  — Anonymous. 

Pop-Corn.  A  kind  of  Indian  corn  which  easily  "  pops  "  or  bursts  open, 
when  roasted  in  the  manner  above  described.  It  is  of  a  dark  color,  and 
has  small  grains. 

Pop-Eted.     Having  prominent  eyes.     Southern. 

Poplar.     See  Tulip  Tree. 

Popular  Sovereignty.  The  rule  of  the  people,  the  right  of  the  people 
to  form  the  constitution  under  which  they  are  to  live. 

He  [Senator  Douglas]  has  only  vindicated  the  South's  doctrine  against  the 
impending  success  of  a  dishonest  attempt  to  secure  for  the  South  the  supposed 
benefit  of  the  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty.  — Richmond  Examiner,  July,  1858. 

PoRGY,  or  Paugie.  (Pron.  with  the  g  hard.)  A  fish  of  the  sparus  fam- 
ily, common  in  the  waters  of  New  England  and  New  York.  Roger 
Williams  mentions  it  in  his  Key  to  the  Indian  Language  (1643).  It  is 
singular  that  one  half  the  aboriginal  name,  scup,  should  be  retained  for 
this  fish  in  Rhode  Island,  and  the  other  half,  paug,  changed  into  paugie 
or  porgy,  in  New  York.  The  entire  Indian  name,  however,  is  still  com- 
mon in  many  parts  of  New  England.     See  Scuppaug. 

Daniel  Webster,  who,  it  is  well  known,  was  a  zealous  disciple  of  Wal- 
ton's, in  writing  to  his  friend  Mr.  Blatchford,  from  Wood's  Hole,  says  : 
In  the  afternoon,  I  went  out  in  the  boat  and  caught  some  fish,  namely,  tautog 
and  scuppog,  the  same  I  suppose,  as  are  called  porgy  in  New  York.  —  Private  Cor- 
respondence, Vol.  II.  p.  33. 

Portage.  A  carrying-place  over  land  between  navigable  waters,  or  along 
the  banks  of  rivers,  round  water-falls  or  rapids,  etc.  —  Pickering.  This 
word  has  been  adopted  by  geographers,  and  is  universal  throughout  North 
America.  The  Portage  Railroad  in  Pennsylvania  is  a  line  over  the 
Alleghany  mountains  connecting  two  Hues  of  canal. 


834  POR  — POS 

PORTAAL.  (Dutch.)  A  portal,  lobby.  Used  by  people  of  Dutch  descent, 
in  New  Jersey  and  New  York,  for  a  small  passage  or  entry  of  a  house. 
The  principal  entrance  they  call  the  gang ;  also  Dutch. 

Position.  "  Defining  one's  position  "  is  a  political  practice  of  modern  days, 
generally  resorted  to  either  by  gentlemen  who  have  no  other  good  chance 
or  prospect  of  bringing  themselves  to  the  special  notice  of  the  public,  as 
a  sort  of  advertisement  that  they  are  in  the  market,  or  by  other  gentle- 
men who  contemplate  making  a  dodge  from  one  side  in  politics  to  the 
other.  It  is  done  either  orally  or  in  writing ;  by  a  speech  in  Congress  or 
at  some  public  meeting ;  or  by  a  long  letter,  published  in  some  news- 
paper, the  editor  of  which  is  always  glad  of  something  to  fill  his  columns. 
The  highest  art  in  "  defining  one's  position  "  is  to  leave  it  more  indefinite 
than  it  was  before,  so  that  any  future  contingency  may  be  taken  advan- 
tage of.  —  [J^  Inman.'] 

The  Barnburners'  Mass  Meeting,  to  no?j-respond  to  the  nominations  of  Cass  and 
Butler,  will  take  place  in  the  Park  at  five  this  afternoon,  and  be  addressed  by  John 
Van  Buren,  B.  F.  Butler,  Sedgwick,  Field,  Gen.  Nye,  etc.,  etc.  We  regret  that 
unavoidable  absence  at  Philadelphia  will  deprive  us  of  the  pleasure  of  hearing  these 
gentlemen  "  define  their  position,"  especially  Prince  John,  who  has  the  reputation  of 
being  the  most  straightforward,  plain-spoken,  flat-footed  'Burner  in  the  country,  -r- 
N.  Y.  Tribune,  June  6,  1848. 

Possum.  A  common  contraction  of  Opossum,  as  in  the  negro's  eloquent 
appeal  to  his  mistress : 

Possum  up  a  gum  tree,  cooney  in  de  holler  j 

Come  along  wid  me,  my  dear,  I  '11  gib  you  quarter  dollar. 

To  Possum.  To  feign,  dissemble.  An  expression  alluding  to  the  habit 
of  the  opossum,  which  throws  itself  on  its  back  and  feigns  death  on  the 
approach  of  an  enemy.  This  is  also  and  more  commonly  ealled  plai/ing 
possum. 

In  the  common  parlance  of  the  country,  any  one  who  counterfeits  sickness,  or 
dissembles  strongly  for  a  particular  purpose,  is  said  to  be  possuming.  —  Flint's  Geogr. 
of  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  67. 

To  Post.  To  post  or  post  up  a  person  is  to  bring  his  knowledge  up  to 
date,  to  make  him  acquainted  with  recent  occurrences ;  so  that  a  person 
well  posted  is  one  who  is  well  informed.  The  phrase  is  borrowed  from 
the  counting-house. 

Mrs.  Fudge  has  kept  a  close  eye  upon  equipages,  hats,  cloaks,  habits,  churches, 
different  schemes  of  faith  and  of  summer  recreation.  She  is  well  posted  up  in  all 
these  matters.  — Ik.  Marvel,  Fudge  Doings. 

Post-Note.  In  commerce,  a  bank-note  intended  to  be  transmittech  to  a 
distant  j)lace  by  mail,  and  made  payable  to  order.  In  this  it  differs  from 
a  common  bank-note,  which  is  payable  to  bearer.  —  Webster. 


POT  — POW  335 

Post-notes  differ  in  other  respects  from  bank-notes.  The  latter  are 
payable  on  demand ;  the  former  are  often  drawn  on  time,  with  or  without 
interest,  sometimes  six  or  twelve  months  after  date.  This  species  of 
currency  was  resorted  to  by  many  banks  during  the  great  commercial 
revulsions  in  1836-7,  and  contributed  greatly  to  the  expansion  of  credits 
which  proved  so  disastrous  to  the  country. 

Potato  Grant.  A  patch  of  land  for  growing  vegetables  formerly 
granted  by  the  owner  to  each  of  his  slaves.     West  Indies. 

Potash  Kettles.  A  term  applied  in  the  "West  to  roundish  elevations 
and  depressions  in  the  earth  near  the  great  lakes.  They  are  attributed 
to  the  decay  and  washing  away  of  the  soft  and  easily  decomposed  lime- 
stone by  which  the  ridges  where  they  are  found  are  probably  underlaid. 

Pot-Hole.  In  many  parts  of  the  country  are  found  circular  holes  of 
various  diameters  and  depths  formed  by  the  action  of  water  in  rolling  a 
small  boulder  in  what  was  at  first  a  natural  depression  of  the  rock.  It 
is  a  common  notion  in  the  West  that  these  were  made  by  the  Indians  to 
pound  corn  in,  whence  they  are  often  called  "  Indian  mortars." 

Every  little  torrent  has  its  furrowed  channel,  and  often  its  deep  pot-holes,  as  a 
result  of  the  action  of  the  water ;  and  it  would  be  most  strange  if  the  great  flood  of 
Niagara  should  rush  on  its  course  for  ages  and  produce  no  appreciable  effect.  —  R. 
Bakewdl,  in  Sill.  Journ.  Vol.  XXIII.  p.  86. 

Pot-Pie.  A  pie  made  by  spreading  the  crust  over  the  bottom  and  sides 
of  a  pot,  and  filling  up  the  mside  with  meat,  i.  e.  beef,  veal,  mutton,  or 
fowls. 

An  enormous  pot-pie,  and  piping  hot,  graced  our  centre,  overpowering,  with  its 
fragrance  and  steam,  the  odors  and  vapors  of  all  other  meats  ;  and  pot-pie  was  the 
wedding  dish  of  the  country,  par  excellence !  The  pie  to-day  was  the  doughy 
sepulchre  of  at  least  six  hens,  two  chanticleers,  and  four  pullets  !  What  pot  could 
have  contained  the  pie  is  inconceivable.  Why,  among  other  unknown  contributions, 
it  must  have  received  one  half  peck  of  onions !  And  yet  it  is  to  be  feared  that  many 
would  he  pot-pieless. —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  181. 

Pot- Walloper.    A  scullion. 

Pot- Wrestler.     A  scullion.     Pennsylvania. 

JPottt-Baker.  (Dutch,  pottehakker.)  A  potten  This  Dutch  word  is 
still  common  in  New  York.  Potter's  clay  is  there  called  potty-baker's 
clay. 

Power.  A  large  quantity ;  a  great-  number.  In  low  language ;  as,  "a 
power  of  good  things."  —  Johnson.  Little  used  in  this  country,  except 
by  the  Irish. 

He,  to  work  him  the  more  mischief,  sent  over  his  brother  Edward,  with  a  power 
of  Scots  and  Kedshanks,  into  Ireland,  where  they  got  footing.  —  Spenser  on  Ireland. 


336  P  0  W 

I  think  the  Post-Office  Committees  will  do  a  power  of  good,  if  they  can  stir  up 
the  old  contracts  and  extras. —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  118. 
He  made  &  power  of  money.  —  Ibid.  p.  59. 

Power  and  Certificate.  During  the  time  the  books  of  a  company  are 
closed  for  the  payment  of  a  dividend,  for  an  election,  or  for  any  purpose, 
there  can  be  no  transfer  of  stock,  or  the  issue  of  a  new  certificate.  Most 
of  the  sales  of  stock  made  during  the  closing  of  the  books  are  deliverable 
on  the  opening ;  all  contracts,  whether  buyer's  or  seller's  option,  that  ma- 
ture during  the  same  time,  are  carried  forward  to  the  opening ;  but  occa- 
sionally a  sale  is  made  where  the  buyer  requires  immediate  delivery.  In 
that  case  the  old  certificate  is  delivered,  with  a  power  of  attorney  attached, 
for  the  transfer  on  or  after  the  opening  of  the  books.  These  transactions 
are  reported  in  the  stock-list,  with  the  letters  p  and  c,  which  means  power 
and  certificate.  Sales  for  cash,  made  during  the  closing  of  the  books,  not 
marked  p  and  c,  are  for  the  opening  of  the  books,  and  are  marked  opg. — 
Hunfs  Merchants'  Mag.  Vol.  XXXVII. 

Powerful.  Great;  very,  exceedingly.  A  vulgar  use  of  the  word  in 
some  parts  of  the  country. 

This  piano  was  sort  o'  fiddle  like  —  only  bigger,  —  and  with  a  poit^er/uZ  heap  of 
wire  strings.  It  is  called  a  forty  piano,  because  it  plays  forty  tunes. — Carlton's  New 
Purchase,  Vol.  II.  p.  8. 

Yes,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  'd  a  powerful  sight  sooner  go  into  retiracy  among  the  red, 
wild  aborigines  of  our  wooden  country,  nor  consent  to  that  bill. — Carlton,  The  New 
Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  74. 

It  may  be  said  generally  of  husbands,  as  the  old  woman  said  of  hers,  who  had 
abused  her,  to  an  old  maid,  who  reproached  her  for  being  such  a  fool  as  to  marry 
him  :  "  To  be  sure,  he  's  not  so  good  a  husband  as  he  should  be,  but  he  's  a  power- 
ful sight  better  than  none." — N.  Y.  Sunday  Dispatch. 

Mrs.  S.    Hoarhound  and  sugar  's  amazin'  good. 
Mrs.  B.     Mighty  good,  mighty  good. 

Mrs.  R.    Powerful  good.     I  take  mightily  to  a  sweat  of  sugar  tea  in  desperate 
bad  colds.  —  Georgia  Scenes,  p.  193. 
I  hated  powerful  bad  to  part  with  the  horse.  — Simms,  Wigwam  and  Cabin,  p.  85. 

"John,"  says  father,  when  I  was  leavin',  "  you've  been  out  in  the  world,  seen  the 
sights,  and  have  got  to  be  considdeble  smart ;  now,  John,  look  out  for  your  brother, 
he 's  so  powerful  green,  'taint  safe  for  him  to  come  near  the  cows,  for  fear  they 
might  eat  him."  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Pow-wow.  (Abenaki  Ind.)  This  is  the  name  given  by  the  early  chron- 
iclers to  the  feasts,  dances,  and  other  public  doings  of  the  red  men,  pre- 
liminary to  a  grand  hunt,  a  council,  a  war  expedition,  or  the  like.  It 
has  been  adopted  in  political  talk,  to  signify  any  uproarious  meeting  for  a 
political  purpose,  at  which  there  is  more  noise  than  deliberation,  more 
clamor  than  counsel.  —  [/.  Inman.'\ 


POW  — PRA  337 

• 

A  murder  was  recently  committed  upon  a  Sioux  by  two  Chippewas.  The  body 
of  tlie  murdered  Indian  was  taken  to  the  fort,  where  a  most  terrific  pow-wow  was 
held  over  it  by  the  friends  of  the  deceased,  three  hundred  in  number.  —  Western 
Newspaper. 

As  I  live,  the  savages  scent  the  whiskey  !  There  is  a  rush  towards,  and  a  pow- 
wow in  and  about  the  shed. —  Cooper,.  Oak  Openings. 

I  was  in  Philadelphia  when  the  Know  Nothings  were  holding  their  grand  national 
pow-wow  there,  and  laying  it  on  thick  that  "  Americans  shall  rule  America."  — Letter 
in  N.  Y.  Herald,  June  22,  1855. 

The  students  are  forbidden  to  occupy  the  State  House  steps  on  the  evening  of  pre- 
sentation day ;  since  the  faculty  design  hereafter  to  have  a  pow-wow  there,  as  on  the 
last. — Burlesque  Catalogue,  Yale  College,  1852-53. 

To  Pow-wow.  To  perform  a  ceremony  with  conjurations  for  the  cure  of 
diseases  and  other  purposes,  with  noise  and  confusion. 

At  a  distance,  with  my  Bible  in  my  hand,  I  was  resolved  if  possible  to  spoil  their 
[the  Indians']  spirit  of  pow-wowing,  and  prevent  their  receiving  an  answer  from  the 
infernal  world.  — Brainerd,  Indian  Nairative,  1745. 

The  Angekok  of  the  Esquimaux  —  the  prophet,  as  he  is  called  among  our  Indians 
—  is  the  general  counsellor.  He  prescribes  or  pow-wows  in  sickness  and  over 
wounds,  directs  the  policy  of  the  little  State,  and  is  really  the  power  behind  the 
throne.  —  Kane,  Arctic  Explorations,  Vol.  II.  p.  118. 

Prairie.     (French.)     An  extensive  tract  of  land,  mostly  level,  destitute 
of  trees,  and  covered  with  tall,  coarse  grass.     These  prairies  are  numer- 
ous in  the  United  States  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  especially 
between  the  Ohio,  Mississippi,  and  the  great  lakes.  —  Webster.     See  also 
Rolling  Prairie,  Salt  Prairie,  and  Soda  Prairie. 
These  are  the  gardens  of  the  desert,  these 
The  unshorn  fields,  boundless  and  beautiful. 
For  which  the  speech  of  England  has  no  name  — 
The  Prairies.  Bryant,  The  Prairies. 

Prairie  Bitters.  A  beverage  common  among  the  hunters  and  moun- 
taineers. It  is  made  with  a  pint  of  water  and  a  quarter  of  a  gill  of  buf- 
falo gall,  and  is  considered  an  excellent  medicine.  —  Scenes  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  p.  133. 

Prairie  Dog.  (^Oynomys  ludoincianus.)  A  variety  of  the  marmot.  It 
has  received  the  name  of  Prairie-dog  from  a  supposed  similarity  between 
its  warning  cry  and  the  barking  of  a  small  dog.  They  live  in  large 
communities ;  their  villages,  as  they  are  termed  by  the  hunters,  sometimes 
being  many  miles  in  extent.  The  entrance  to  each  burrow  is  at  the 
summit  of  the  mound  of  earth  thrown  up  during  the  progress  of  the  ex- 
cavation below.  This  marmot,  like  the  rest  of  the  species,  becomes  tor- 
pid during  the  winter,  and,  to  protect  itself  against  the  rigor  of  the  season, 
stops  the  mouth  of  its  hole,  and  constructs  a  cell  at  the  bottom  of  it,  where 
it  remains  without  injury.  —  Encycl.  Americana. 

29 


83$  PR  A 

Pkairie-Hen.  {Telrao  pratensis.)  A  bird  seen  in  great  flocks  in  the 
prairies  of  Missouri  and  Illinois,  in  tlie  autumn.  It  is  rather  larger  than 
the  domestic  hen.  In  flight  it  appears  like  the  pheasant  and  partridge, 
and  is  a  beautiful  bird.  —  Flint's  Mississippi  Valley.  It  is  also  called 
Heath-hen  and  Pinnated  Grouse. 

"We  saw  great  flights  of  prairie-hens,  or  grouse,  that  hovered  from  tree  to  tree,  or 
sat  in  rows  on  naked  branches.  — Irving' s  Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

Peairie-Squirrels.  (Genus,  Spermophilus.)  These  are  with  great  pro- 
priety called  "  Prairie-Squirrels  ;  "  for  their  true  home  is  on  the  prairie, 
where  they  replace  the  "  arboreal "  squirrels,  from  which  they  difier  in 
organization,  to  suit  their  necessarily  different  mode  of  life.  While  the 
true  squirrels  are  designed  to  live  in  trees,  and  to  subsist  upon  their 
fruits,  the  spermophiles  are  fitted  to  inhabit  the  grassy  plains  which  cover 
much  of  the  western  part  of  our  Union,  their  food  being  the  prairie 
plants  with  their  roots  and  seeds.  The  form  of  these  squirrels  is  adapted 
only  to  locomotion  on  the  ground.  The  body  is  thick  and  heavy,  with 
short  legs ;  and  in  place  of  the  long  toes  and  sharp,  hooked  nails  by 
which  the  arboreal  squirrels  chng  to  the  trees  so  readily,  they  have 
shorter  toes,  with  longer  and  straighter  nails,  for  digging  burrows  in  the 
earth.  The  long,  flexible,  and  bushy  tails,  which  aid  the  squirrels  in 
their  bold  leaps,  and  keep  them  warm  in  their  holes  in  winter,  would  here 
be  useless,  and  soon  worn  ragged  by  dragging  through  their  burrows. 
The  spermophiles,  therefore,  have  smaller  tails,  that  are  carried  straight 
behind  them.  They  have  cheek-pouches  in  which  to  carry  food ;  and 
two  species,  at  least,  convey  roots,  seeds,  etc.,  to  their  burrows  to  be  eaten. 

-   — R.  Kennicott. 

Prairie-State.    The  State  of  Illinois. 

Prairie-Wolf.  (Canis  latrans.)  The  small  wolf  of  the  prairies,  the 
Coyote  of  the  Mexicans.  Its  range  extends  from  Fort  Riley,  Kansas,  to 
the  Pacific,  and  from  the  Upper  Missouri  to  the  Rio  Grande  of  Texas. 

The  prairie-wolf 
Hunts  in  their  meadows,  and  his  fresh  dug  den 
Yawns  by  my  path.  —  Bryant. 

Prairillon.     a  small  prairie. 

Interspersed  among  the  hills  are  frequent  openings  and  prairillons  of  rich  soil  and 
luxuriant  vegetation.  —  Scenes  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  172. 

Pbawchet.     (Dutch,  praatje.)     A  talk,  gossip.     New  York. 

Prayerfui,.     Using  prayer ;  praymg ;  devout.  —  Worcester. 

Prayerfully.  Devoutly.  Ex.  "We  may  be  prayerfully  disposed." 
Used  by  some  of  the  clergy.  — Pickering. 


PRA— PEE  339 

Praterfulness.     The  use  of  much  prayer.  —  Webster. 

Praterlessness.     Total  or  habitual  neglect  of  prayer.  —  Webster. 

To  Preach  a  Funeral.     To  preach  a  funeral  sermon.     Western. 

Precinct.  A  subdivision  of  a  county  or  city  within  which  a  single  poll  is 
held  at  elections. 

In  case  of  non-acceptance  [of  the  collector],  the  parish  or  precinct  shall  proceed 
to  a  new  choice.  —  Laws  of  Massachusetts. 

In  Franklin  Co.,  Kansas,  they  had  no  county  commissioner  whose  duty  it  is  to 
appoint  voting  p-ecjncte  besides  the  county  seat. — New  York  Times,  Oct.  9,  1857. 

To  Predicate  on  or  upon.  To  found  a  proposition,  argument,  etc.,  on 
some  basis  or  data.  This  sense  of  the  word,  said  to  be  purely  American, 
is  not  noticed  by  Dr.  "Webster  or  the  English  lexicographers.  "  Its  use," 
as  Mr.  Pickering  observes,  "  is  very  common  with  American  writers,  and 
in  the  debates  of  our  legislative  assemblies." 

It  ought  surely  to  be  predicated  upon  a  full  and  impartial  consideration  of  the 
whole  subject.  —  Letter  of  John  Quincy  Adams. 

The  great  State  papers  of  American  liberty  were  all  predicated  on  the  abuse  of 
chartered,  not  of  absolute,  rights.  —  Gibbs,  Adminis.  of  Washington  and  J.  Adams, 
Vol.  I.  p.  3. 

To  Pre-ejipt.     To  secure  land,  by  being  the  first  settler  or  occupant  of  it, 

in  OGiiformity  with  the  preemption  law. 

The  following  account  of  the  process  of  preempting  lands  is  from  the 

National  Intelligencer,  "Washington,  July  1,  1857  : 

The  laws  of  the  United  States  give  the  right  to  any  citizen  who  does  not  own 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  any  State  of  the  Union  (and  to  this  he  i8 
required  to  make  oath)  to  preempt  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  by  fulfilling  the 
detailed  requirements  of  the  act.  These  requirements  are,  that  he  shall  file  his  in- 
tention in  the. land-office  to  enter  upon  and  improve  the  land,  either  by  cultivating  it 
or  erecting  thereon  a  home,  and  residing  upon  the  land  long  enough  to  make  it  his 
residence ;  which  time  is  variously  estimated  to  mean  one  or  five  days,  just  as  the 
Receiver  at  any  land-office  may  decide.  To  the  fact  that  he  has  so  resided  and 
made  said  improvements  he  must  produce  a  witness,  w^ho  testifies  that  such  and 
such  things  have  been  done,  and  that  the  preemptor  has  resided  the  required  time  in 
the  house  on  the  land.  Upon  fulfilling  all  these  requirements  and  paying  one  dollar 
and  a  quarter  per  acre,  either  in  gold  or  a  land  warrant,  and  the  fees,  he  receives  a 
certificate  of  title.  A  duplicate  of  this  is  sent  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  at 
"Wasliington,  who,  after  having  searched  the  records,  and  finding  that  the  individual 
has  not  preempted  before,  issues  a  patent  direct  to  him,  and  he  becomes  the  owner  of 
his  farm  by  title  direct  from  the  government. 

Isaac  Lawrence,  of  New  York,  a  negro,  addressed  Governor  Marcy  a 
note,  inquiring  if  he  could  preempt  government  lands  in  Minnesota,  the 
same  as  white  persons  could.  The  letter  was  referred  to  Secretary  Mc- 
Clelland, who  in  reply  said : 


840  PRE 

I  have  to  state  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  would 
prevent  you,  as  a  free  man  of  African  descent,  from  settling  upon  public  land  in  the 
territory  of  Minnesota,  and  acquiring  a  right  of  preemption. 

Pre-emption  Right.  The  right  or  title  which  an  original  settler  or 
squatter  has  to  become  the  first  purchaser  of  unsurveyed  government 
land,  of  which  he  has  taken  possession.  To  maintain  this  right,  he  must 
have  erected  a  habitation,  or  taken  some  steps  towards  the  cultivation  of 
the  land.  This  term  has  long  been  in  use,  as  Imlay,  in  his  work  on  the 
Western  Territory,  published  in  1797,  says : 

The  settlement  began  to  form  in  1780,  and  was  encouraged  by  settlements  and 
preemption  rights.  —  p.  14. 

Among  the  public  acts  of  Congress  is  one  entitled, 

"  An  act  to  appropriate  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  and  to  grant  preemption 
rights." 

Prehaps,  for  perhaps,  is  much  used  at  the  West  in  familiar  language,  when 
additional  force  is  to  be  given  to  the  word.  It  originated  in  a  jocose  mis- 
pronunciation, which  appears  to  be  becoming  a  fixed  corruption. 

Prehaps  Parson  Hyme  did  n't  put  it  into  Pokerville  for  two  mortal  hours ;  and 
prehaps  Pokerville  did  n't  mizzle,  wince,  and  finally  flummix  right  beneath  him  !  — 
Field,  Drama  in  Pokerville. 

Present.  This  word  is  put  on  the  back  of  letters  to  persons  residing  in 
the  place  where  they  are  written,  and  which  are  not  to  be  sent  through 
the  mail.  Peculiar  to  the  United  States.  The  Spanish  equivalent,  pre- 
sente,  is  also  used  in  Central  America. 

Presidency.     1.   The  office  of  president.      "  Washington  was  elected  to 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  electors." 
2.    The  term  during  which  a  president  holds  his  office.     "  President 
John  Adams  died  during  the  presidency  of  his  son."  —  Webster. 

President.     1.   The  chief  magistrate  of  the  United  States. 

The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica. He  shall  hold  his  oflSce  during  the  term  of  four  years,  etc.  —  Constitution  of  the 
U.  States. 

2.   The  chief  officer  of  a  college  or  imiversity. 

Presidential.  Pertaining  to  a  president.  —  Webster.  In  this  sense  the 
word  is  an  Americanism.  It  is  of  course  very  common  and  indispensable 
with  us,  and  is  sometimes  used  by  English  writers  in  treating  of  Ameri- 
can affairs. 

The  friends  of  Washington  had  determined  to  support  Mr.  Adams  as  candidate 
for  the  presidential  chau\  — Quarterly  Rev.,  Vol.  X.  p.  497. 


PRE  341 

Presidio.  (Span.)  A  military  post  on  the  Mexican  frontier.  Many  of 
these  places  are  now  within  the  United  States,  and  still  retain  the  old 
Spanish  name.  Sometimes  the  term  is  applied  to  a  fortress,  at  others  to 
the  entire  village  that  surromids  it. 

The  viceroy  of  Mexico  sent  the  gallant  Onate  to  New  Mexico,  to  take  formal  pos- 
session of  the  country,  and  to  establish  colonies,  missions,  and  presidios.  —  Wisltze- 
nus,  Northern  Mexico,  1848. 

Peetty  Considerable.  1.  Of  some  consequence,  tolerable,  passable, 
middling.     Used  in  this  sense  in  England  as  well  as  America. 

To  the  faculty  of  law  was  joined  a  pretty  considerable  proportion  of  the  faculty  of 
medicine.  —  Burke,  Reflections  on  the  French  Rev. 

But  you  seem  to  have  something  pretty  considerable  in  the  right  pocket  of  your 
trowsers  ;  what  may  it  be  ?  Why,  that 's  a  wee  bit  pewter  whiskey-flask,  yer  honor. 
—  Scrape's  Deer  Stalking,  74. 

I  went  to  the  theatre  in  Boston,  where  the  acting  was  pretty  considerable,  consider- 
ing.— Crockett's  Tour,  p.  87. 

2.   Tolerably,  passably,  middlingly. 

Dear  Col.  Crockett,  —  I  have  heard  of  you  a  great  deal  lately,  and  read  consider- 
able of  your  writings ;  and  I  feel  pretty  considerable  well  acquainted  with  you.  —  Maj. 
Downing,  Letter  to  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  217. 

There  are  some  folks  who  think  a  good  deal,  and  say  but  little,  and  they  are  wise 
folks  ;  and  there  are  otliers  again  who  blui-t  out  whatever  comes  uppermost,  and  I 
guess  they  are  pretty  considerable  superfine  fools.  —  Sam  Slick. 

I  went  into  the  business  of  pepper-pot  smoking,  and  went  ahead  pretty  considerable 
for  a  time ;  but  a  parcel  of  fellows  came  into  it,  said  my  cats  was  n't  as  good  a« 
their'n,  when  I  know'd  they  was  as  fresh  as  any  cats  in  the  market,  and  pepper-pot 
was  no  go.  —  J.  C.  Neal,  Sketches. 

Pretty.     Any  thing  pretty ;  an  ornament,  toy,  picture.     Western. 

Thinks  I,  this  is  all  talk  and  no  cider ;  and  I  asked  if  any  lady  or  gentleman 
wanted  a  picture.  A  dead  silence  ensued ;  then  a  titter.  At  length  one  of  the 
chaps  said  to  his  sweetheart : 

"  Betty,  suppose  you  have  your  pretty  taken."  —  " Daguerreotyping,"  Ev.  (  Wash.) 
Star. 

Pretty  Middling.     Tolerably  well. 

When  we  came  to  the  steep,  sandy  side  of  the  mountain  [Hecla],  it  would  be  safe 
to  believe  that  we  went  down  pretty  middling.  —  P.  Miles,  Rambles  in  Iceland,  p.  78. 

Preventative.  A  corruption  sometimes  met  with  for  preventive,  both  in 
England  and  America. 

A  ciy  was  raised  for  the  establishment  of  a  preventative  armed  police  ;  but  the 
madness  of  such  a  proposal  could  not  l4>ng  escape  observation.  —  Edinb.  Annual 
Reg.  Vol.  V.  p.  99. 

Confidence  in  the  press,  and  a  belief  in  its  statements  concerning  this  cholera,  are 
the  most  T^ovicvixA  preventatives  of  panic.  — N.  Y.  Express,  Aug.  6,  1849. 

29* 


342  PRI  — PRO 

Prickly  Heat.  A  cutaneous  eruption  or  rash  which  appears  during  the 
excessive  heat  of  summer. 

Prickly  Pear.  (  Opuntia  vulgaris.)  A  sort  of  flat  jointed  cactus,  which 
is  found  in  sandy  fields  and  about  dry  rocks,  from  Massachusetts  south- 
ward, usually  near  the  coast. 

Prime.  In  a  first-rate  manner ;  primely.  This  is  one  of  the  many  Eng- 
lish adjectives  which,  in  our  vulgar  language,  are  transformed  into 
adverbs. 

After  a  little  practice  with  my  gun,  she  came  up  to  the  eye  prime,  and  I  deter- 
mined to  try  her  at  the  first  shooting-match.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  175. 

Priming.  As  the  priming  bears  but  a  small  proportion  to  the  charge  of  a 
gun,  so  this  word  is  used  in  the  West  to  denote  any  thing  trivial,  like  the 
word  circumstance  ;  as,  "  Your  corn  crop  ain't  di  priming  to  mine,"  i.  e.  is 
very  small  in  comparison  with  it. 

Stranger,  you  may  say  what  you  please  about  your  anacondy  sarpent  of  Ceylon, 
in  South  America ;  and  your  rael  Bengali  tiger  from  Africa ;  both  on  'cm,  heated  to 
a  white  heat  and  welded  into  one,  would  be  no  part  of  a  priming  to  a  grizzly  bear  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  —  Crockett's  Adventures  with  a  Grizzly  Bear. 

Prijiinary.     a  predicament ;  difiiculty.     Used  in   the   Southern  States. 

—  Sherwood's  Georgia.     I  am  told  that  this  word  is  also  used  by  old 
people  living  on  Long  Island.     It  is  provincial  in  the  North  of  England. 

To  Primp,  or  Primp  up.  To  dress  up  in  a  finical  manner;  to  linger 
over  one's  toilet.     A  woman's  expression. 

Arter  supper  I  washed,  then  I  put  on  the  cleanest  sort  of  a  shirt  that  Aunt  Jane 
had  fixed  up  mity  nice  an'  smooth,  then  I  drawcd  on  about  as  nice  a  set  uv  Sunday 
harness  as  you  ever  seed ;  and  arter  marm  and  Aunt  Jane  had  primped  up  au'  fixed 
my  har  an'  creevat,  I  was  rcddy.  —  How  Sal  and  Me  got  Married. 

Primpy.     Fastidious  in  the  duties  of  the  toilet,  finical.     A  woman's  word. 

Prince's  Pride.     See  Pipsissewa. 

Printery.    An  establishment  for  printing  cottons,  etc. ;  print-works.    Rare. 

—  Worcester. 

Processioner.  An  ofiicer  in  Kentucky,  and  possibly  in  other  States, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  determine  and  mark  out  the  bounds  of  lands. 

Profanity.  This  word  is  in  common  use  here,  more  particularly  with  our 
clergy.  It  is  not  in  the  dictionaries,  and  I  do  not  recollect  ever  meeting 
with  it  in  Enghsh  authors.  The  Scottish  writers  employ  it ;  but  English 
writers  use  the  word  profaneness.  —  Pickering.  Worcester,  however, 
states  that  it  is  used  by  respectable  English  authors. 


PRO  343 

Professor.  1.  One  who  makes  a  profession  of  any  thing.  —  Worcester. 
The  application  of  the  word  to  dancing-masters,  conjurers,  banjo-players, 
etc.,  has  been  called  an  Americanism.  It  is  thought,  however,  that  even 
in  Yankeeland,  the  following,  copied  by  the  Nat.  Intelhgencer  of  Nov. 
11,  1858,  from  an  English  paper,  would  be  "  hard  to  beat." 

A  great  shaving  match  against  time  was  performed  recently  at  Keighley,  near 
Leeds.  A  "  Professor  Carrodus,"  attended  by  thi-ee  latherers  and  five  stroppers, 
engaged  to  shave  seventy  men  in  sixty  minutes,  and  succeeded  in  performing  the 
task  four  minutes  within  the  specified  time. 

2.  One  visibly  or  professedly  religious.  —  Worcester.  A  very  odd  use 
of  the  word  to  those  not  accustomed  to  it. 

"  Ah  ! "  said  Miss  Eayby,  "  and  I  can  remember  the  time  —  of  course  I  was  very 
young  then,  but  still  I  can  remember  —  when  Caleb  Edmonds  swept  out  his  own 
shop  ! " 

"  Dear  me  !  And  now  he  has  the  upstart  impudence  to  send  his  girl  to  such  a 
school  as  that ! "  exclaimed  Miss  Sophia  Milwood,  the  spinster  who  had  not  yet 
spoken.     "  Oh,  the  pride  of  human  nature." 

"  And  he  a  professor  too  !  " 

"  Professor  1 "  said  Miss  Rayby.  "  Religion  does  not  teach  a  man  such  absurd 
pride  as  that !  " 

Miss  Phillip  shook  her  head,  and  began  to  lament  the  increase  of  false  professors. 
—  The  Dream  of  Caleb  Edmonds. 

To  Progress.  To  move  forward;  to  pass.  —  Johnson.  This  is  not  a 
pure  Americanism,  as  some  suppose,  but  an  old  English  word  which  had 
been  suffered  to  become  obsolete.  It  was  revived  here  after  the  Revolu- 
tion (see  Pickering),  and  has  lately  been  taken  into  favor  again  in  Eng- 
land. 

The  Penny  Cyclopasdia  (art.  Americanism)  says,  "  The  old  verb  pro- 
gress, which  the  Americans  use  very  often  and  pronounce  progress,  is  now 
beginning  to  be  again  adopted  in  its  native  country,  though  we  think  we 
could  do  very  well  without  it." 

Let  me  wipe  off  this  honorable  dew, 

That  silverly  doth  progress  on  thy  cheeks.  —  Shakspeare. 

Although  the  popular  blast 

Hath  reared  thy  name  up  to  bestride  a  cloud. 
Or  progress  in  the  chariot  of  the  sun.  —  Ford,  Broken  Heart. 
Such  are  the  inconsistencies  of  a  flatterer,  progressing  from  his  butterfly  state  into 
the  vennicular  slime  of  a  libeller.  —  London  Quarterly  Review. 

Her  first  teacher  was  but  himself,  at  that  time  a  pupil ;  but  she  progressed  under 
his  tuition.  — Mary  Howitt,  People's  Journal. 

The  launch  of  the  "  Leviathan  "  will  be  by  no  means  a  slapdash  affair  into  the 
"  native  element,"  but  a  tedious  operation,  which  will  very  probably  occupy  two  or 
three  days.  On  these  points,  and  some  others  of  equal  interest,  we  shall  give  our 
readers  fuller  information  as  the  great  ship  progresses  towards  completion.  —  London 
Times,  April  30,  1857. 


344  PRO 

They  progress  in  that  style  in  proportion  as  their  plans  are  treated  with  contempt. 
—  Washington's  Writings. 
After  the  war  had  progressed  for  some  time.  —  Marshall's  Washington. 

Whether  this  word  was  used  in  the  time  of  Bacon  or  not,  I  cannot  say, 
yet  it  seems  he  employs  it  in  the  spirit  world ;  for,  in  the  asserted  revela- 
tions made  by  Judge  Edmonds,  the  philosopher  says : 

I  trust  that  your  own  hearts  will  respond  to  mine,  and  the  many,  very  many  spirits 
who  are  present,  till  all  our  souls,  like  one  spirit,  shall  unite  in  the  harmonies  of 
truth,  love,  and  the  earnest  desire  to  progress.  — Spiritualism,  p.  333. 

Progressive  Friends.  A  name  recommended  at  a  convention  of  Spirit- 
ualists held  in  Illinois,  Sept.  7,  1857,  to  be  adopted  by  them,  "  as  being  a 
cognomen  most  indicative  of  that  broad  liberality  of  sentiment  Avhich 
they  desire  to  foster  and  maintain." 

Prong.  •  A  branch  or  arm  of  a  creek  or  inlet.     Southern. 

Prong-horn  Antelope.  (Antilocapra  americana.)  The  Prong-horn 
Antelope  is  familiar  to  every  hunter  on  the  plains  west  of  the  Missouri 
River.  From  this  line  it  extends  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  ranges  from 
northern  Mexico  to  the  latitude  of  53°  on  the  Saskatchewan.  It  is  also 
abundant  in  Minnesota,  especially  on  the  plains  of  Red  River.  The 
antelope  is  highly  prized  as  an  article  of  food.  They  run  with  great 
swiftness,  and  all  their  motions  are  characterized  by  ease  and  grace.  — 
S.  F.  Baird. 

To  Pronounce.  In  Nantucket  they  say,  "  How  does  your  horse  pro- 
nounce f  "  i.  e.  how  does  he  prove  or  perform  ? 

Proper.    Very,  exceedingly.    Colloquial  in  England  and  the  United  States. 
The  day  was  gone  afore  I  got  out  of  the  woods,  and  I  got  proper  frightened.  — 
Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  18. 

Properly.     Very  much.     Common  in  New  England. 

Father  jest  up  with  the  flat  of  his  hand,  and  gave  me  a  wipe  with  it  on  the  side  of 
my  face,  that  knocked  me  over  and  hurt  me  properly.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch. 
26. 

pROPios.  (Span.)  In  Spanish-American  law,  certain  portions  of  ground 
laid  off  and  reserved,  on  the  foundation  of  a  town,  as  the  unalienable 
property  of  the  town,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  public  buildings,  mar- 
kets, etc.,  or  to  be  used  in  any  other  way,  under  the  direction  of  the  mu- 
nicipality, for  the  advancement  of  the  revenues  or  the  prosperity  of  the 
place.  —  Peters's  Reports,  Vol.  XII.  p.  442,  note. 

Pro-Slavery.  In  favor  of  slavery.  An  expression  much  used  by  poli- 
tical speakers  and  writers,  although  not  yet  inserted  in  the  dictionaries. 


PRO  345 

It  takes  a  despot,  a  craven,  and  a  slave,  compounded  together,  to  make  a  pro- 
slavery  legislator  in  a  free  State.  —  Anti-Slavery  Almanac. 

Pro-slavery  men,  strike  for  your  altars  !  strike  for  your  rights  !  Sound  the  bugle 
of  war  over  your  land,  and  leave  not  an  abolitionist  in  the  country.  —  Kickapoo  Pio- 
neer, Jan.  18,  1856. 

Prospecting.  Hunting  or  searching  for  lead,  gold,  or  other  metals.  The 
process  is  thus  described  in  a  sketch  of  Life  on  the  Upper  Mississippi : 

The  chief  mart  of  the  lead  trade  is  in  the  tOAvn  of  Galena,  built  upon  a  small, 
sluggish  stream.  In  travelling  through  tlie  upland  prairie  of  this  neighborhood,  you 
will  see  many  hillocks  of  earth,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  as  if  some  huge  animal 
had  been  burrowing  beneath,  and  had  thrown  up  the  dirt  in  that  manner ;  but  you 
may,  by  chance,  meet  two  or  three  men  with  a  bucket,  a  rope,  a  pick-axe,  and  a 
portable  windlass,  and  the  difficulty  is  explained.  This,  in  the  language  of  the 
country,  is  a  prospecting  party ;  wliich,  being  interpreted,  means  that  they  are  on  the 
look-out  for  ore,  if  it  is  to  be  found  within  ten  or  fifteen  feet  of  the  ground.  — N.  Y. 
Literary  World,  June  3,  1848. 

Our  claim  [near  Haugtown,  Cal.]  did  not  prove  rich  enough  to  satisfy  us ;  so  we 
abandoned  it  and  went  prospecting.  — Borthwick's  California,  p.  124. 

I  've  gin  up  diggin'  and  prospectin'.  It  don't  pay ;  and  I  can  make  more  by  tellin' 
new  comers  whar  to  sink  their  shaft.  If  they  find  gold,  I  get  half;  and  if  they 
don't,  I  charge  no  thin'.  —  Lett,  from  California,  N.  Y.  Times. 

Prospector.  A  searcher  for  spots  where  minerals  exist,  applied  alike  to 
the  precious  metals,  copper,  or  coal. 

A  prospector  goes  out  with  a  pick  and  shovel,  and  a  washpan ;  and  to  test  the  rich- 
ness of  a  place,  he  digs  down  till  he  reaches  the  dirt  in  which  it  may  be  expected 
gold  will  be  found.  — Borthwick's  California,  p.  124. 

Protracted  Meeting.  A  name  given  in  New  England  to  a  religious 
meeting,  protracted  or  continued  for  several  days,  chiefly  among  the 
Presbyterians,  Congregationalists,  Methodists,  and  Baptists.  Notice  is 
sometimes  given  that  a  protracted  meeting  will  be  held  at  a  certain  time 
and  place,  where  large  numbers  of  people  assemble.  In  the  West  they 
are  called  "  big  meetings." 

A  religious  sensation  is  raging  terribly  in  my  neighborhood,  induced  by  the  influ- 
ence of  the  expected  comet,  —  there  is  a  protracted  meeting  round  the  comer,  and 
high-pressure  prayer  meetings  on  every  side.  —  Doesticks. 

I  'm  a  gentleman  that  calculates  to  hold  a  protracted  meeting  here  to-night.  —  Sam 
Slick,  Nature  and  Human  Nature. 

You  don't  suppose  a  pedlar  that  had  experienced  religion  at  a  protracted  meetin' 
would  cheat  a  clergyman  ?     What  an  idee  !  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  219. 

Proud.     Glad  ;  as,  "  I  should  be  proud  to  see  you." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Brownlow,  the  facetious  editor  of  the  Jonesboro'  Whig, 
in  an  article  on  his  own  obituary,  says : 

He  desires  it  stated  to  the  world,  that  if  he  had  his  life  to  live  over  again,  he 
could  improve  it  in  many  respects.     He  leaves  no  apologies  to  be  made  to  men  in 


846  PRO  — PUC 

this  life,  and  asks  no  favors  of  anybody  "  on  the  other  side  of  Jordan,"  but  his 
God  !  His  friends,  if  he  have  any  left  behind,  can  be  of  no  service  to  him ;  his 
enemies,  he  is  proud  to  know,  "  can 't  reach  him  ! " 

Pkox,  or  Proxy.  The  use  of  these  words  is  confined  to  the  States  of 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.  Prox,  in  Rhode  Island,  means  the  ticket 
or  list  of  candidates  at  elections  presented  to  the  people  for  their  votes. 
By  a  law  of  the  colony  of  Providence  Plantations,  passed  in  the  year 
1647,  the  General  Assembly  was  appointed  to  be  holden  annually,  "if 
wind  and  weather  hinder  not,  at  which  the  general  officers  of  the  colony 
were  to  be  chosen."  This  clause  made  it  convenient  for  many  to  remain 
at  home,  particularly  as  they  had  the  right  to  send  their  votes  for  the 
officers  by  some  other  persons ;  hence  the  origin  of  these  terms  prox 
and  proxy  votes,  as  applied  to  the  present  mode  of  voting  for  State  offi- 
cers in  Rhode  Island.  —  Staples' s  Annals  of  Providence,  p.  64. 

Mr.  Pickering  observes  that  this  word  is  also  used  in  Connecticut,  as 
equivalent  to  election,  or  election-day.  He  quotes  the  following  instances 
from  a  Connecticut  newspaper : 

Eepublicans  of  Connecticut ;  previous  to  every  proxies  you  have  been  assaulted 
on  every  side. 

On  the  approaching  proxies  we  ask  you  to  attend  universally. 

Dr.  Webster,  with  whom  New  England,  or  rather  Connecticut,  seems 
to  have  been  a  synonyme  for  "  all  creation,"  says,  the  word  means,  "  in 
popular  use,  an  election  or  day  of  voting  for  officers  of  government." 

When  the  qualification  of  a  freeman,  as  formerly,  was  low,  the  proxies  or  voters 
never  exceeded  1,300 ;  at  present  the  qualification  is  better,  and  the  proxies  are  only 
888.  — Douglass'  Summary,  1755,  Vol.  II.  p.  89. 

Pry.  a  large  lever  employed  to  raise  or  move  heavy  substances.  Used 
also  in  some  parts  of  England.  —  Worcester. 

To  Pry.     To  move  or  raise  by  means  of  a  large  lever.  —  Worcester. 

Publishment.  A  publishing  of  the  banns  of  marriage,  which  is  required 
by  law  in  New  England.  "  Mr.  Doe  and  Miss  Roe's  publishment  took 
place  to-day." 

Any  persons  desiring  to  be  joined  in  marriage,  shall  have  such  their  intentions 
published  ....  or  posted  up  by  the  clerk  of  each  town  ;  and  a  certificate  of  such 
publishment  ....  shall  be  produced  as  aforesaid  previous  to  their  marriage. — 
Statutes  of  Massachusetts,  1786. 

PUCCOON.     An  Indian  name  for  various  plants  affi^rding  coloring  matter. 
1.  The  Sanguinaria  canadensis,  or  Blood  root.     The  juice  was  much 
used  by  the  Indians  as  a  dye  or  stain,  as  on  the  old  basket  ware  now  no 
longer  to  be  seen. 

They  have  the  puccoon,  with  which  the  Indians  used  to  paint  themselves  red ;  and 


PUC— PUL  347 

the  shumach  and    sassafras,  which  make  a  deep  yellow.  —  Beverly's   Virginia, 
Book  in. 

2.  Yellow  puccoon.     Hydrastis  canadensis,  or  Yellow  root. 

Pucker.  A  fi-ight ;  a  state  of  perplexity  or  trouble ;  agitation.  Pro- 
vincial in  England. 

It  was  natural  enough  that  the  Squke's  wife  should  be  in  a  pucker  to  see  the 
Ladies'  Book  [which  contained  an  article  ridiculing  her].  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers, 
p.  326. 

Pueblo.  (Span.)  A  village  of  the  semi-civilized  Catholic  Indians  of 
New  Mexico. 

The  villages  of  the  christianized  Indians  in  New  Mexico  were  called  pueblos,  in 
opposition  to  the  wild  roving  tiibes  that  refused  such  favors:  —  Wislizenm,  New 
Mexico. 

Pueblo  Indian.     A  Catholic  Indian  villager  of  New  Mexico. 

The  most  interesting  class  of  the  inhabitants  of  New  Mexico  are  those  known  as 
the  Pueblo  Indians.  They  are  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  rulers  of  the  country, 
and  are  so  called  because  they  dwell  in  villages  and  subsist  by  agriculture,  instead 
of  living  in  lodges  and  depending  upon  the  chase,  as  the  wild  Indians  of  the  moun- 
tains and  plains.  — Davis,  El  Gringo,  p.  114. 

Puke.     1.  A  mean,  contemptible  fellow. 

2.  A  nickname  for  a  native  of  Missouri. 

Pull-do o.  A  small  black  duck  found  in  the  bays  and  inlets  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  They  seldom  fly,  but  rely  upon  swimming  and  diving  to 
evade  pursuit.  The  word  is  probably  a  corruption  of  poule  d'eau,  i.  e. 
water-hen. 

Pull  Dick,  Pull  Devil.  An  expression  used  in  low  language  synony- 
mous with  "  neck  and  neck,"  denoting  an  equal  contest  in  a  race,  etc. 

To  Pull  Foot.     To  walk  fast ;  to  run. 

I  look'd  up ;  it  was  another  shower,  by  Gosh.  I  pulls  foot  for  dear  life.  —  Sam 
Slick  in  England,  ch.  2. 

I  thought  I'd  run  round  two  or  three  streets.  So  1  pulled  foot,  and  hunted  and 
sweat  till  I  got  so  tired  I  could 'nt  but  just  stand.  —  Maj.  Downing's  May-day  in  New 
York. 

To  Pull  it.    To  run. 

And  how  a  man  one  dismal  night 

Shot  her  with  silver  buUet, 
And  then  she  flew  straight  out  of  sight 

As  fast  as  she  could  pull  it. 

T.  G.  Fessenden,  Yankee  Doodle. 

To  Pull  up,  among  travellers,  means  to  stop.  Alluding  to  the  act  of 
pulling  the  reins  of  a  horse  in  order  to  stop  him. 


348  PUL  — PUN 

To  Pull  up  Stakes.  To  pack  up  one's  furniture  or  baggage,  preparatory 
to  a  remoyal ;  to  remove.  The  allusion  is  to  pulling  up  the  stakes  of  a 
tent. 

If  this  stranger  is  to  receive  countenance,  then  I  '11  pull  up  stakes  and  depart  from 
Tinnccum  for  ever.  — Knickerboclcer  Magazine. 

To  Pull  Wool  oveu  the  Eyes. 

The  Tariff  project  for  reducing  the  revenue  is  a  humbug  —  a  trick  for  pulling 
wool  over  the  eyes  of  innocent  people.  — N.  Y.  Herald. 

That  'ere  stranger's  only  playin'  possum,  but  he  can't  pull  the  wool  over  this 
child's  eyes ;  he 's  got  'cm  both  skinned.  — A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas. 

Puma.  {Felis  co7icolor.)  An  animal  known  also  under  the  names  of  Cou- 
gar, Panther,  and  American  Lion,  the  largest  of  the  cat  kind  found  in 
America.  Flint  describes  it,  under  the  name  panther,  as  of  the  size  of 
the  largest  dogs,  of  a  dark  grayish  color,  marked  with  black  spots.  It  is 
in  shape  much  like  the  domestic  cat,  with  short  legs,  large  paws,  and  long 
talons.  It  conceals  itself  among  the  branches  of  the  trees,  and  thence 
darts  upon  its  prey. 

Pumpkin-Seed.  A  variety  of  the  Perca  Americana,  common  in  fresh- 
water ponds  and  lakes.  They  are  so  called  from  their  form.  In  the 
river  St.  Lawrence  I  have  seen  them  from  six  to  eight  inches  in  length. 
In  some  places  they  are  called  Sun-fish. 

Puncheons.  A  term  which,  in  Georgia,  means  split  logs,  with  their  faces 
a  little  smoothed  with  an  axe  or  hatchet.  These,  being  laid  upon 
sleepers,  make  a  puncheon  floor. 

The  Squire's  dwelling  consisted  of  but  one  room.  The  house  was  constructed 
of  logs,  and  the  floor  was  of  puncheons.  —  Georgia  Scenes,  p.  12. 

Bill  knew  him  ;  and  if  the  old  serpent  himself  had  popped  up  his  head  through 
the  puncheons  and  claimed  him  for  his  brand,  he  could  n't  have  been  more  scared. — 
N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

PuNG.  A  rude  sort  of  sleigh,  or  oblong  box  made  of  boards  and  placed 
on  runners,  used  for  drawing  loads  on  snow  by  horses.  —  Worcester.  Also 
called  a  Jumper,  which  see. 

These  were  sledges  or  pungs,  coarsely  framed  of  split  saplings,  and  surmounted 
■with  a  large  crockery-crate.  — Margaret,  p.  174. 

Punk.     1.  Rotten  wood ;  touchwood ;  spunk.     A  word  in  common  use  in 
New  England,  as  well  as  in  the  other  Northern   States  and  Canada. 
Ash  defines  it  "  a  kind  of  fungus,  often  used  for  tinder."  —  Pickering. 
2.  A  punch  or  blow  with  the  fist.     New  York. 

To  Punk.    To  push  or  strike  with  the  fist ;  to  punch.    New  York. 

^7 


vUtx^t/k-   ^^/l^^^^^^/Y^t^^'^v^^cy'J 


PUN  — PUT  349 

Punt.  In  Maryland  and  Virginia,  a  small  boat  made  of  the  body  of  a 
large  tree.     In  England,  a  punt  is  a  flat-bottomed  boat. 

PuPELO.  A  name  for  cider-brandy,  formerly  manufactured  in  New  Eng- 
land to  a  great  extent. 

"  Han't  they  got  any  of  the  religion  at  your  house  1 "  "  No,  marm,  they  drink 
pupelo  and  rum." — Margaret,  p.  52. 

Put.     To  stay  put  is  to  keep  still,  remain  in  order.    A  vulgar  expression. 

The  levees  and  wharves  of  the  First  Municipality  won't  "  stai/  put."  Last  evening 
that  part  of  the  levee  opposite  Custom-House  street,  which  had  caved  in  and  was 
since  filled,  sunk  suddenly  ten  feet.  —  N.  0.  Picayune. 

To  Put.  To  start ;  go ;  decamp  ;  be  off.  "  I  see  I  'm  not  wanted  here ; 
so  I '11  ^m;." 

B found  himself  by  mistake  in  the  ladies'  saloon ;  a  fact  he  was  politely  in- 
formed of  by  one  of  the  occupants,  who  said,  "  Guess  you  put  for  the  wrong  pew, 
mister." — Notes  on  Canada,  etc.,  Blackwood's  Mag. 

To  Put  off.     To  start,  set  out.     Originally  a  nautical  term. 

It  is  an  astonishing  fact  that  over  fifteen  thousand  persons  have  deserted  their 
homes  in  California,  and  put  off  by  every  means  of  conveyance  for  Eraser's  river. — 
Nat.  Intelligencer,  July  22,  1858. 

To  Put  out.  To  set  out ;  to  be  off.  A  "Western  expression.  To  put  i» 
used  in  the  same  sense. 

As  my  wife's  father  had  considerable  land  on  Blue  Fox  river,  and  as  we  wanted 
a  little  more  elbow-room,  I  says  one  day  to  Nancy,  "Nancy,"  says  I,  "Idad, 
'spose  yve  put  out  and  live  there."  —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  172. 

"Well,  I  put  out  for  the  Planter's  as  fast  as  I  could,  where  you  know  I  found  you 
at  last.  —  MaJ.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  63. 

There  was  goin'  to  be  a  raisin'  or  log-rollln'  a  good  piece  off,  and  the  old  man 
reckoned  he'd  better  put  out  in  the  evening  and  stay  at  some  of  the  neighbor's  houses 
and  be  allowed  to  take  an  early  start  in  mornin.'  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

La  Bonte  picked  up  three  mules  for  a  mere  song,  and  the  next  day  put  out  for  the 
Platte.  — Ruxton,  Life  in  the  Far  West,  p.  66. 

"  The  more  you  give  the  slaves,"  said  Jekyl,  "  the  more  dissatisfied  they  grow, 
till  finally  they  put  for  the  free  States." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Clayton  ;  "  if  that 's  to  be  the  result,  they  may  put  as  soon  as 
they  can  get  ready."  —  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  195. 

To  Put  the  Licks  in.     To  exert  oneself. 

You  had  better  put  the  licks  in  and  make  haste,  or  there  will  be  more  fiddling  and 
dancing  and  serving  the  devil  this  morning.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  164. 

To  Put  it  in  Strong.     To  express  oneself  strongly  or  emphatically. 

The  missionaries  in  the  South  are  pretty  careful ;  they  put  it  in  strong  in  the 
catechism  about  the  rights  of  the  master.  — Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  193. 

To  Put  through.     To  carry  through,  effect,  accomplish,  a  piece  of  busi- 

30 


850  PUT  — QUA 

ness.    A  term  much  used  in  speaking  of  legislative  business ;  tlius,  to 
carry  a  bill  or  resolution  is  "  to  put  it  through." 

Puts.  When  a  speculator  thinks  that  stocks  are  going  down,  and  wishes  to 
make  a  small  operation  without  incurring  much  risk,  he  gives  a  small  sum 
for  the  privilege  of  delivering  a  small  amount  of  stock  at  a  certain  price. 
For  instance,  if  the  cash  price  of  Erie  was  fifty-seven  per  cent.,  a  specu- 
lator would  give,  say  fifty  dollars,  to  "  put "  or  deliver  one  hundred  shares 
at  fifty-six  and  a  half  per  cent,  say  next  week,  ten  days,  or  any  short  time. 
He  can  only  lose  his  fifty  dollars,  if  the  market  should  go  up ;  but  if  it  goes 
down  to  fifty-six,  he  gets  his  money  back,  and  all  below  that  is  so  much 
profit.  Operations  of  this  kind  are  carried  on  principally  among  the 
curb-stone  brokers,  men  who  have  strong  speculative  propensities  and 
very  little  capital.  —  Hunfs  Merchants'  Magazine,  Vol.  XXXVII. 

PxjTTO.  (Fr.  poteau,  a  post.)  A  stake  firmly  set  in  the  ground,  to  which 
wild  cattle  and  horses  are  secured.  A  term  in  general  use  in  the  grazing 
region  of  the  South-west. 

Putty-root.  (Aplectrum,hymenale).  Also  called  "Adam  and  Eve," 
from  the  bulb  of  the  preceding  year  being  always  connected  with  the 
new  one. 

To  Puzzle  a  Philadelphia  Lawyer  is  considered  a  very  difficult 
undertaking,  the  Philadelphia  gentlemen  of  the  profession  being  regarded 
as  remarkably  keen-witted. 

Had  General  Taylor  not  confessed  himself  a  whig,  it  would  have  puzzled  a  Phila- 
delphia lawyer  to  have  detected  it.  —  Southern  Patriot. 


Q. 

To  Quackle.     To  interrupt  in  breathing ;  to  almost  choke ;  to  suffocate. 
Provincial  in  England,  and  colloquial  in  America.  —  Worcester, 

Quadroon,  or  Quateron.    The  offspring  of  a  mulatto  woman  by  a  white 
man. 

QuAHAUG.     In  New  England,  the  popular  name  of  a  species  of  clams 
having  a  round  and  very  hard  shell.     See  Pooquaxo. 

The  laws  of  Rhode  Island  provide,  tliat  any  person  who  shall  take  any 
quahaugs  or  clams  from  certain  beds  in  Providence  river  between  May 
and  September,  shall  forfeit  twenty  dollars  for  each  offence. 

Quaker  City.    The  city  of  Philadelphia ;  so  called  from  its  founders  hav- 
ing been  Friends  or  Quakers. 


QUA  — RAC  851 

QuAKEB  Guns.  "Wooden  guns  placed  in  the  port-holes  of  merchant  ves- 
sels. 

We  fancy  our  vessels  of  war  which  suifered  the  fillibuster  "Walker  to  escape  were 
armed  with  Quakei-  guns.  —  Providence  Journal. 

To  Qualify.  To  swear  to  discharge  the  duties  of  an  oflBce ;  and  hence 
to  make  oath  of  any  fact ;  as,  "  I  am  ready  to  qualify  to  what  I  have 
asserted ! " 

Dr.  Tate,  of  Virginia,  the  new  Auditor  of  the  Treasury  for  the  Post-Office  De- 
partment, this  morning  qualified  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office.  —  The 
(Bait.)  Sun,  Oct.  1,  1857. 

Quarter.  A  twenty-five  cent  piece,  which  is  a  quarter  of  a  dollar,  is 
often  called  simply  a  quarter. 

Quarters.  The  negro  huts  of  a  plantation  are  termed  the  negro  quarters^ 
or  simply  the  quarters. 

Queen  City.     Cincinnati. 

Quid.  A  corruption  of  cud;  as,  in  vulgar  language,  a  quid  of  tobacco. 
In  Kent  (England),  a  cow  is  said  to  chew  her  quid ;  so  that  cud  and 
quid  are  the  same.  —  Pegge's  Anonymia. 

Quilting.     A  piece  of  reed,  on  which  weavers  wind  the  thread  which . 
forms  the  woof  of  cloth,  is  called  a  quill ;   an   old  English  word.     In 
New  England,  a  certain  process  of  winding  thread  is  called  quilling. 

The  child,  Margaret,  sits  in  the  door  of  her  house,  on  a  low  stool,  with  a  small 
wheel,  winding  spools,  in  our  vernacular,  quilling.  — Margaret,  p.  6. 

Quilting-Bee,  or  Quilting-Fbolic.  An  assemblage  of  women  who 
unite  their  labor  to  make  a  bed-quilt.  They  meet  by  invitation,  seat 
themselves  around  the  frame  upon  which  the  quilt  is  placed,  and  in  a  few 
hours  complete  it.  Tea  follows,  and  the  evening  is  sometimes  closed  with 
dancing  or  other  amusements. 

Now  [in  the  days  of  Gov.  Stuyvesant]  were  instituted  quilttng-bees  and  husking- 
bees,  and  other  rural  assemblages,  where,  under  the  inspiring  influence  of  the  fiddle, 
toil  was  enlivened  by  gaiety  and  followed  up  by  the  dance.  —  Irving,  Knickerbocker. 

E. 

Raccoon.  {Procylon  lotor.)  A  well-known  carnivorous  animal  found  in 
most  parts  of  North  America,  valuable  for  its  fur.  Vulgarly  called 
Coon,  which  see. 

To  Race.    To  cause  to  run,  to  chase.    A  vulgar  use  of  the  word. 


352  RAD— RAF 

Between  five  and  six  o'clock  on  Thursday  afternoon,  a  well-known  character 
named  Michael  Clark,  while  passing  the  comer  of  Cathedral  and  Franklin  streets, 
espied  an  old  enemy  named  Edward  Gettier,  perched  on  a  scaffold  swinging  against 
the  side  of  a  new  house,  busy  applying  a  painter's  brush  to  the  structure,  and  re- 
gardless of  all  things  below.  Both  had  been  previously  concerned,  on  opposite 
sides,  in  several  street  affrays ;  and  Clark  thinking  it  a  good  time  to  let  him  know  he 
was  about  again,  slipped  up,  and  commenced  shooting  at  Gettier  with  a  revolver. 
After  several  shots  had  been  wasted,  one  of  the  balls  took  effect  in  Gettier's  side, 
wounding  him  slightly.  Clark  then  ran,  and  Gettier,  jumping  down,  raced  him  for 
some  distance,  etc.  —  (BaJt.)  Sun,  Aug.  7,  1858. 

Raddle.     In  New  England,  an  instrument  consisting  of  a  Avooden  bar,   Yi 
with  a  row  of  upright  pegs  set  in  it,  which  is  employed  by  domestic 
weavers  to  keep  the  warp  of  a  proper  width,  and  prevent  it  from  be- 
coming entangled  when  it  is  wound  upon  the  beam  of  a  loom.  —  Webster. 
It  is  an  English  term. 

Raft.  1.  A  frame  or  float,  made  by  laying  pieces  of  timber  across  each 
other.  —  Johnson.  In  North  America,  rafts  are  constructed  of  immense 
size,  and  comprise  timber,  boards,  staves,  etc.  They  are  floated  down 
from  the  interior  to  the  tide-waters,  being  propelled  by  the  force  of  the 
current,  assisted  by  large  oars  and  sails,  to  their  place  of  destination. 
The  men  employed  on  these  rafts  construct  rude  huts  upon  them,  in 
which  they  often  dwell  for  several  weeks  before  arriving  at  the  places 
where  they  are  taken  to  pieces  for  shipping  to  foreign  parts. 

2.  This  term  is  also  applied  to  a  large  collection  of  timber  and  fallen 
trees,  which,  floating  down  the  great  rivers  of  the  West,  are  arrested  in 
their  downward  course  by  flats  or  shallow  places.  Here  they  accumu- 
late, and  sometimes  block  up  the  river  for  miles.  The  great  raft  on  Red 
river  extended  twenty  miles,  and  required  an  immense  outlay  of  money 
to  remove  it  in  order  to  make  the  river  navigable. 

3.  A  large  number,  a  host.     Vulgar. 

We  have  killed  Calhoun  and  Biddle ;  but  there  is  a  rajl  of  fellows  to  put  down 
yet.  — Maj.  Downing's  Letters,  p.  93. 

We've  shoals  of  shad,  whole  rafts  of  canvas-back  ducks,  and  no  end  of  terrapins. 

—  Burton,  Waggeries. 

Among  its  notices  to  correspondents,  an  exchange  paper  says  :  "  a  raft  of  original 
articles  are  on  file  for  next  week."    We  hope  none  of  them  will  prove  mere  lumber. 

—  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

The  Elder's  wife  was  a  sick  lookin'  woman,  with  a  whole  raft  o'  young  ones 
squalling  round  her. —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  210. 

To  Raft.     To  transport  on  a  raft.  —  Webster. 

Rafting.    The  business  of  constructing  and  floating  rafts. 

Raftsman.    A  man  who  follows  the  business  of  rafting. 


RAG  — RAI  353 

Rag.  To  take  the  rag  off  the  hush,  or  simply  to  take  the  rag  off,  is  to  bear 
away  the  palm. 

I  had  an  everlastin'  fast  Narragansett  pacer.  I  was  considerable  proud  of  him,  I 
assure  you ;  for  he  took  the  rag  off  the  bush  in  great  style.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature, 
p.  218. 

"  Don't  be  skeered,"  sals  I,  "  Gineral,  don't  be  skeered ;  I  ain't  a  goin'  for  to 
hurt  you,  but  jist  to  salute  you  as  my  senior  officer,  for  it  tant«  often  two  such  old 
heroes  like  you  and  me  meet,  I  can  tell  you.  You  fit  at  Waterloo,  and  I  fit  at 
Bunker's  Hill ;  you  whipt  the  French,  and  we  whipt  the  English.  P'raps  history 
can't  show  jist  two  such  battles  as  them ;  they  take  the  rag  o^ quite.  —  Sam  Slick  in 
England,  Chapter  XXXVIII. 

Rail.  A  piece  of  timber,  cleft,  hewed,  or  sawed,  inserted  in  upright  posts 
for  fencing.  The  common  rails  among  farmers  are  rough,  being  used  as 
they  are  split  from  the  chestnut  or  other  trees.  —  Webster. 

To  Rail  it.     To  travel  by  railroad. 

From  Petersburg!!  I  railed  it  through  the  North  Carolina  pitch,  tar,  turpentine, 
and  lumber  country,  to  the  great  American  pitch,  tar,  turpentine,  and  lumber  depot 
— Wilmington.  The  prospect  is,  from  the  car  windows,  continuously  an  immensity 
of  pine,  pine,  nothing  but  pine-trees,  broken  here  and  there  with  openings  of  pine 
under-brush.  — Letter  in  N.  Y.  Tribune,  May  22,  1848. 

Rail-car.     A  car  for  transporting  passengers  on  railroads. 

Railroad.  This  word  is  in  universal  use  in  the  United  States,  whUe 
"  railway "  is  move  common  in  England.  So  we  say  railroad  track, 
railroad  depot,  and  railroad  car,  which  in  England  would  be  called  a 
railway,  a  railway  station,  and  railway  carriage. 

To  Raise  a  Racket.     To  make  a  racket  or  noise. 

I  see  it  warn't  no  use  raisin'  a  racket ;  so  I  concluded  I  'd  have  satisfaction  out  of 
him,  and  began  shakin'  my  fist  at  him.  — Southern  Sketches,  p.  36. 

To  Raise  Cain.     To  cause  a  disturbance ;  to  make  a  row. 

Now  bring  Mexico  into  the  Union,  and  I  'd  like  to  know  which  of  the  great  powers 
would  undei-take  to  dictate  to  her,  or  tell  her  what  she  must  do.  .  .  .  There 
would'nt  be  any  stmttin'  about,  and  talkin  big,  and  threatenin'  to  raise  Cain.  — 
Hammond,  Lakes  and  Forest  Scenes. 

To  Raise  one's  Hair.  In  the  semi-barbarous  dialect  used  by  the  hunters, 
trappers,  and  othei's  who  traverse  the  great  plains  and  prairies  of  the 
West,  scalping  a  man  is  "  raising  (or  lifting)  his  hair." 

Eat  Carson  is  the  paragon  of  mountaineers :  to  look  at  him  no  one  would  think 
that  the  mild-looking  being  before  him -was  an  incarnate  devil  in  an  Indian  fight, 
and  had  raised  more  hair  from  the  red-skins  than  any  two  men  in  the  Western 
country.  — Ruxton,  Life  in  the  Far  West,  p.  194. 

Raise.  To  make  a  raise  is  a  vulgar  American  phrase,  meaning  to  make  a 
haul,  to  raise  the  wind. 

30* 


354  RAI—  EAK 

The  chances  were  altogether  favorable  for  making  a  raise,  without  fear  of  detec- 
tion. —  Simon  Suggs,  p.  48. 

I  made  a  raise  of  a  horse  and  saw,  after  being  a  wood-piler's  apprentice  for  a 
while. — Neal,  Sketches. 

To  Raise.  1.  To  cause  to  grow;  to  procure  to  be  produced,  bred,  or 
propagated :  as  to  raise  wheat,  barley,  hops,  etc. ;  to  raise  horses,  oxen, 
or  sheep.  —  Webster. 

To  raise  is  apphed  in  the  Southern  States  to  the  breeding  of  negroes. 
It  is  also  sometimes  heard  at  the  North  among  the  illiterate  ;  as,  "  I  was 
raised  in  Connecticut,"  meaning  brought  up  there.  See  more  in  Picker- 
ing's Vocabulary. 

You  know  I  was  raised,  as  they  say  in  Virginia,  among  the  mountains  of  the 
North.  —  Paulding,  Letters  from  the  South,  Vol.  I.  p.  85. 

Old  negro  Bill,  belonging  to  Mr.  Sampson,  Hunt  Co.,  Virginia,  was  raised  there 
and  served  in  the  American  Revolution,  a  portion  of  the  time  as  a  servant  to  Wash- 
ington. —  {  Wash.)  Ev.  Star,  Jan.  7,  1857. 

2.  To  obtain  with  difficulty  or  in  a  discreditable  manner. 

3-  To  make  up,  fabricate,  invent ;  as,  "  That 's  a  tale  they  've  raised  on 
me,"  meaning  some  ludicrous  or  disgraceful  anecdote  invented  against  a 
person.     "Western. 

To  Raise  a  Bead.  This  expression  is  used  at  the  West,  and  means  to 
bring  to  a  head,  to  make  succeed.  The  figure  is  taken  from  brandy, 
rum,  or  other  liquors,  which  will  not  "  raise  a  bead,"  unless  of  the  proper 
strength. 

The  result  was,  if  the  convention  had  been  then  held,  the  party  would'nt  have 
been  able  to  raise  a  head.  —  Letter  from  Ohio,  N.  Y.  Tribune,  1846. 

Raising-Bee,  or  Raising.  In  New  England  and  the  Northern  States, 
the  operation  or  work  of  setting  up  the  frame  of  a  building.  —  Webster. 

On  such  occasions  the  neighboring  farmers  are  accustomed  to  assemble 
and  lend  their  assistance.  In  this  way  the  framework  of  the  largest 
house  or  barn  is  set  up  in  a  few  hours. 

Raising-bees  were  frequent,  where  houses  sprang  up  at  the  wagging  of  the  fiddle- 
stick, as  the  walls  of  Thebes  sprang  up  of  yore  to  the  sound  of  the  lyre  of  Amphion. 
—  Knickerbocker's  New  York. 

The  spectacle  of  a  raising,  though  so  common-place  an  affair  elsewhere,  is  some- 
thing worth  seeing  in  the  woods.  —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life. 

Rake  down.     A  talking  down,  a  scolding. 

I  have  expected  to  be  "  blown  up  "  in  print,  by  "  S 1,"  before  now,  but 

have  so  far  escaped  —  much  to  the  disappointment  of  the  b'hoys  about  here.  I 
would  submit  with  a  good  grace  to  a  "  rake  down,"  if  I  could  only  succeed  in  start- 
ing again  liis  "gray  goose  quill."  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 


RAN  — REA  355 

Rancho,  or  Ranch.  (Span,  rancho.)  A  rude  hut  of  posts,  covered  witli 
branches  or  thatch,  where  herdsmen  or  farm-laborers  live  or  only  lodge 
at  night. 

Rancheria.  (Span.)  The  place,  site,  or  house  in  the  country  where  a 
number  of  rancheros  coUect  together.  The  collection  of  few  or  many 
huts  or  ranchos  into  a  small  village. 

Ranchero.  (Span.)  A  person  who  lives  in  a  rancho ;  and  hence  any 
peasant  or  countryman. 

Rakge.  1.  The  public  lands  of  the  United  States  are  surveyed  or  divided 
into  ranges,  which  designate  the  order  of  their  arrangement  into  town- 
ships. —  Bouvier's  Law  I^ict. 

2.  In  Texas,  the  prairies  on  which  the  large  herds  of  cattle  graze  and 
range  are  called  cattle  or  stock  ranges. 

When  any  person  may  hunt  estrays  in  another  stock  range,  he  shall  notify  the 
owner  of  said  stock  of  his  intention.  —  Laws  of  Texas. 

The  herdsman  agrees  to  deliver  a  certain  number  of  beeves,  in  marketable  order. 
.  .  .  The  range  is  then  scoured  and  the  requisite  number  obtained.  —  Olmsted  s  Texas, 
p.  371. 

Ranters.    A  gang  of  Baltimore  bullies. 

Rapids.  The  part  of  a  river  where  the  current  moves  with  more  celerity 
than  the  common  current.  Rapids  imply  a  considerable  descent  of  the 
earth,  but  not  sufficient  to  occasion  a  fall  of  the  water,  or  what  is  called 
a  cascade  or  cataract.  —  Webster. 

Rat.  a  contemptuous  term  used  among  printers,  to  denote  a  man  who 
works  imder  price. 

To  Rat.     Among  printers,  to  work  under  price. 

Rat  Office.    A  printing  office  in  which  full  prices  are  not  paid. 

Ratoons.     1.  (Span,  retoiio.)     Sugar  cane  of  the  second  and  third  year's 
growth,  of  which  cuttings  are  made  for  planting  the  succeeding  year. 
2.  The  heart-leaves  in  a  tobacco-plant.  —  Webster. 

Rattlesnake.  (  Crotalus  horridus.)  A  genus  of  serpents,  celebrated  for 
the  danger  which  accompanies  their  bite,  and  for  the  peclihar  appen- 
dages to  their  tail.  This  venomous  reptil^  of  which  there  are  many  spe- 
cies, is  exclusively  confined  to  America ;  but  they  have  greatly  dimin- 
ished in  the  United  States  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  population. 

To  Realize.  To  feel  or  bring  home  to  one's  mind  as  a  reahty.  In  this 
sense  it  is  not  without  Enghsh  authority  ;  as,  "  to  realize  one's  position.'* 
(JEccl.  Rev.)  —  Worcester. 


856  REA  — EEC 

Now  to  realize  the  idea  of  what  a  nebulous  star  must  portend,  etc.  —  Nichol.  Syst. 
of  the  World,  p.  45. 

This  allusion  must  have  had  enhanced  strength  and  beauty  to  the  eye  of  a  nation 
extensively  devoted  to  a  pastoral  life,  and  therefore  realizing  all  its  fine  scenes  and 
the  tender  emotions  to  which  they  gave  birth.  —  Dwight. 

Rear  Horse.  The  vulgar  name,  at  the  South,  for  the  orthopterous  insect 
called  the  Mantis,  Camel  Cricket,  or  Johnny  Cock-horse. 

Reboso.  (Span.)  A  scarf  or  long  shawl  universally  worn  over  the  head 
and  shoulders  by  the  women  of  the  Spanish- American  States  and  Terri- 
tories. 

Receiptor.  A  person  to  whom  goods  levied  on  by  the  sheriflT  are  deliv- 
ered, on  his  undertaking  to  deliver  the  same  to  the  sheriff  on  demand,  or 
to  pay  the  amount  on  execution.  —  BurriWs  Law  Diet. 

To  Re-charter.  To  charter  again  ;  to  grant  a  second  or  another  charter 
to.  —  Webster. 

To  Reckon.  To  think ;  to  imagine  ;  to  believe  ;  to  conjecture  ;  to  con- 
clude ;  to  guess.  Used  in  some  parts  of  the  United  States  as  calculate  is 
in  New  England  and  elsewhere.  It  is  provincial  in  England  in  the  same 
sense,  and  is  noticed  in  the  glossaries  of  Pegge  and  Brockett.  Mr.  Ham- 
ilton, in  his  remarks  on  the  Yorkshire  dialect,  says :  "  '  I  rechon  '  comes 
out  on  every  occasion,  as  perhaps  aliens  would  expect  from  this  country 
of  'ready  reckoners.'  "  —  Nugce  LiteraritB,  p.  317, 

"  Greneral,  I  guess  we  best  say  nothin'  more  about  bribin',"  says  I.  "  Well,"  says 
he,  "  Major,  I  reckon  you  're  right."  —  Major  Downing's  Letters,  p.  208. 

I  say !  what  do  you  guess  about  lending  me  your  axe  for  a  spell  1  Do  yoa 
reckon  you  can  spare  if?  —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  84. 

I  reckon  you  hardly  ever  was  at  a  shooting-match,  stranger,  from  the  cut  of  your 
coat.  —  Georgia  Scenes,  p.  198. 

To  Recoupe.  (Fr.  recouper.)  To  diminish  a  claim  for  damages  by  cut- 
ting off  or  keeping  back  a  part. 

This  old  word  has  been  revived  to  a  considerable  extent  in  modern 
law.  "  Where  a  man  brings  an  action  for  breach  of  a  contract  between 
him  and  the  defendant,  and  the  latter  can  show  that  some  stipulation  in 
the  same'  contract  was  made  by  the  plaintiff,  which  he  has  violated,  the 
defendant  may,  if  he  choose,  instead  of  suing  in  his  turn,  recoupe  his 
damages,  arising  from  the  breach  committed  by  the  plaintiff,  whether  they 
be  liquidated  or  not.  The  law  will  cut  off  so  much  of  the  plaintiff's 
claim  as  the  cross-damages  may  come  to."  —  Cowen,  in  WendelVs  Re- 
ports, Vol.  XXII.  p.  156. 

Recoupement.     Defalcation  or  discounting  from  a  demand.    A  keeping 


.     E  E  D  357 

back  something  which  is  due,  because  there  is  an  equitable  reason  to 
withhold  it.  The  principle  of  recoupement  has  been  established  in  the 
State  of  New  York  in  several  cases  of  recent  occurrence.  —  BurriWs 
Law  Diet. 

Red  Adder.     See  Copperhead. 

Red-Bud.  ( Gercts  canadensis.)  A  small  ornamental  tree,  noted  for  its 
pink  flowers,  which  at  a  distance  resemble  those  of  the  peach-tree.  It 
grows  on  rich  soil  from  New  York  to  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  southwards. 
Also  called  Judas-tree. 

Red  Cent.     A  common  term  for  the  copper  cent. 

When  Gen.  "Washington  had  got  through  with  his  fightin',  .  .  .  government  owed 
him  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars,  and  had  n't  the  first  red  cent  to  pay  with.  — 
Hammond's  Lake  and  Forest  Scenes. 

Every  thing  in  New  Orleans  sells  by  dimes,  bits,  and  picayunes ;  and  as  for  cop- 
per money  I  have  not  seen  the  first  red  cent.  —  Bayard  Taylor  in  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

H must  have  a  million  of  dollars,  and  a  man  with  that  is  not  poor  in  any 

country ;  certainly  it  was  a  great  catch  for  Miss  L ,  without  a  red  cent  of  her 

own.  —  The  Upper  Ten  Thousand,  p.  147. 

Red  Dog  Monet.  A  term  applied,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  to  certain 
bank-notes  which  have  on  their  back  a  large  red  stamp. 

The  late  General  Banking-law  of  the  State  of  New  York,  which  was 
applied  to  all  new  banks,  as  well  as  to  those  the  charters  of  which  were 
renewed,  obliged  the  parties  or  individuals  associated  to  deposit  securities 
with  the  comptroller,  and  receive  from  him  blank  notes  of  various  denom- 
inations, signed  or  bearing  the  certificate  of  the  comptroller  or  oflficer 
authorized  by  him.     These  notes  bore  a  red  stamp  on  their  backs. 

The  free  admission  under  this  law  of  securities  of  a  very  questionable 
character  induced  many  persons,  both  individually  and  collectively,  to 
organize  banks  of  issue ;  and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  circulating  medium  soon  consisted  of  the  notes  of  the  free 
banks,  bearing  the  red  stamp.  The  community,  generally,  did  not  con- 
sider these  notes  as  safe  as  those  issued  by  the  old  banks,  and  stigmatized 
them  as  red  dogs,  and  the  currency  as  red  dog  money.  The  character 
of  the  securities,  however,  has  since  been  improved  by  an  act  which 
demands  that  only  certain  stocks  of  weU-established  reputation  shall  be 
admitted ;  and  consequently  the  odium  which  existed  against  the  first 
banks  created  under  the  law  is  now  done  away  with.  In  Michigan  they 
apply  the  term  blue  pup  money  to  bank-notes  having  a  blue  stamp  on 
their  backs. 

Much  bogus  coin  and  wild-cat,  red  dog  bills  are  in  circulation ;  but,  as  a  general 
principle,  shin-plasters  are  regarded  cautiously,  and  nothing  is  given  for  nothing.  — 
North,  Slave  of  the  Lamp,  p.  38. 


358  RED 

Shakspeaxe  makes  one  of  his  characters  say  : 

"  How  sweet  the  moonshine  sleeps  upon  this  bank." 
But  in  this  "red  dog  "  and  "wild-cat "  era,  the  reading  about  banks  and  moonshine 
should  be  modernized  thus  : 

"  How  sweet  these  banks  do  sleep  upon  this  moonshine." 

La  SaUe  Press. 

Red-Ete.     Fiery  new  whiskey. 

I  promised  the  overseer  a  new  covering  and  a  demijohn  of  red-eye  if  all  went 
straight,  got  my  little  fixins  together,  and  off  I  set.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Red  Horses.    A  nickname  applied  to  the  natives  of  Kentucky. 

Red  Men.     The  American  Indians,  so  called  from  their  color. 

Since  the  red  men  have  become  known  to  us,  numerous  tribes  have  been  extin- 
guished, with  all  their  peculiar  customs  and  institutions  ;  yet,  as  a  whole,  the  Indian 
remains. — Lapham's  Antiqs.  of  Wisconsin,  p.  30. 

Children,  you  ask  why  the  red  men  keep  moving  towards  the  setting  sun,  and  why 
the  pale  faces  follow  1  You  ask  if  the  place  where  the  sun  sets  will  ever  be  reached, 
and  if  pale  men  will  go  there  to  plough  and  build.  —  Cooper,  The  Red  Skins,  p.  321. 

The  red  man,  too. 
Has  left  the  blooming  wilds  he  ranged  so  long. 
And,  nearer  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  sought 
A  wilder  luinting-ground.  —  Bryant,  The  Prairies. 

The  red  man  smoked  his  pipe,  or  trimmed  the  fire. 

And  many  a  tale  he  to  our  father  told 
Of  barbarous  battle  and  of  slaughter  dire. 

That  on  Pawtucket's  mai-ge  there  chanced  of  old. 

Durfee,  What  Cheer,  Canto  iii. 

Red  Race.    The  American  Indians. 

We  need  not  look  to  Mexico  or  any  other  country  for  the  descendants  of  the 
mound-builders.  We  probably  see  them  in  the  present  red  race  of  the  same  or  ad- 
jacent regions.  —  Lapham's  Antiqs.  of  Wisconsin,  p.  29. 

Red-Root.  A  shrub  found  upon  the  prairies  near  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
highly  esteemed  as  a  substitute  for  tea.  It  resembles  the  tea  of  com- 
merce, and  aifords  an  excellent  beverage.  —  Scenes  in  the  RocTcy  Moun- 
tains, p.  26. 

Red-Skin.    An  American  Indian. 

What  may  be  right  and  proper  in  a  red-skin  may  be  sinful  in  a  man  who  has  not 
even  a  cross  in  blood  to  plead  for  his  ignorance.  —  Cooper,  Last  of  the  Mohicans. 

Red  Viper.     See  Copperhead. 

To  Redeem.  To  pay  the  value  in  specie  of  any  promissory  note,  bill,  or 
other  evidence  of  debt  given  by  the  State,  by  a  company  or  corporation, 
or  by  an  individual.  The  credit  of  a  State,  a  banking  company,  or  indi- 
vidual, is  good  when  they  can  redeem  all  their  stock,  notes,  or  bills  at  par. 


RED— REG  359 

—  Webster.     This  sense  of  the  word  is  peculiar  to  us,  and  is  not  noticed 
by  any  English  lexicographer.    In  England  they  cash  notes,  bank-bills,  etc. 

Redemptioner.  This  name  is  given  in  the  Southern  States  to  those  Ger- 
mans, Irish,  and  other  Europeans  who  emigrate  from  their  own  country 
to  the  United  States,  and  sell  their  services  for  a  term  of  time  to  pay 
their  passage-money  and  other  expenses.  —  Pickering. 

Reed-Bird.     See  Bobolink. 

Refectory.  An  eating-house,  restaurant.  This  word  ori^nally  denoted 
an  apartment  in  convents  and  monasteries  where  a  moderate  repast  was 
taken ;  and  at  Oxford,  England,  is  applied  to  the  place  where  the  mem- 
bers of  each  College  or  Hall  dine. 

Referee.  A  person  to  whom  a  cause  pending  in  a  court  is  referred  by 
the  court,  to  take  testimony,  hear  the  parties,  and  report  thereon  to  the 
court ;  and  upon  whose  report,  if  confirmed,  judgment  is  entered.  —  Bur- 
rill's  Law  Diet.  A  referee  differs  from  an  arbitrator,  the  latter  being 
chosen  by  parties  to  decide  a  cause  between  them. 

Reform  School.  A  school  for  the  confinement,  instruction,  and  refor- 
mation of  juvenile  offenders,  and  of  young  persons  of  idle,  vicious,  and 
vagrant  habits. 

Regalia.  The  banners,  aprons,  badges,  and  other  decorations  used  by  the 
Society  of  Odd  Fellows.  It  is  singular  that  this  term,  which  signifies 
the  trappings  of  royalty,  should  have  been  chosen  by  this  large  and 
respectable  body  for  their  simple  decorations. 

Regent.  In  the  State  of  New  York,  the  member  of  a  corporate  body 
which  is  invested  with  the  superintendence  of  all  the  colleges,  academies, 
and  schools  in  the  State.  This  board  consists  of  twenty-one  members, 
who  are  called  "  the  regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York." 
They  are  appointed  and  removable  by  the  legislature.  They  have  power 
to  grant  acts  of  incorporation  for  colleges  ;  to  visit  and  inspect  all  colleges, 
academies,  and  schools ;  and  to  make  regulations  for  governing  the  same. 

—  Statutes  of  New  York. 

Regret.  A  note  declining  an  invitation,  and  containing  an  expression  of 
regret  for  the  same ;  as,  "I  can't  go  to  Mrs.  Jones's  ball  next  Wednes- 
day, but  must  send  a  regret."     A  new  lady's  term. 

Regular  Wat.  Very  often  in  the  report  of  stock  sales  the  letters  r.  "W. 
are  attached  to  certain  operations.  This  "  regular  way  "  means  the  deliv- 
ery of  the  stock  sold  the  next  day.  All  sales  for  cash  are  for  immediate 
deiiyeTj.  —  mcnfs  Merch.  Mag.,  Vol.  XXXVn. 


360  EEH  — REN 

Rehash.    A  cooking  over  again  ;  a  renewal  or  repetition  in  another  form. 
Doubtless  of  English  origin,  though  not  in  the  dictionaries. 

Gov.  Tallmadge,  in  speaking  of  Senator  Shields's  promise  to  present 
the  memorial  of  the  "  Spiritualists  "  to  the  Senate,  and  his  treatment  of  it 
afterwards,  says : 

I  confess  my  surprise,  that,  instead  of  moving  for  an  investigation  by  a  select  com- 
mittee, he  should  have  given  in  advance  a  rehash  of  what  has  been  so  often  said 
before  by  the  opponents  of  spmtualism.  —  Healing  of  Nations,  Appendix,  p.  468. 

To  Reinsure.     To  insure  the  same   property  a  second  time   by  other 
underwriters.  —  Webster. 

It  is  common  with  underwriters  or  insurance  companies,  when  they 
find  they  have  too  large  a  sum  insured  on  one  ship,  or  in  a  particular 
district,  to  reinsure  a  part  elsewhere. 

The  insurer  may  cause  the  property  insured  to  bo  reinsured  by  other  persons.  — 
Walsh,  French  Com.  Code. 

To  Reinvestigate.     To  investigate  agam.  —  Welster. 

Reinvestigation.     A  repeated  investigation.  —  Worcester. 

To  Reland.     To  go  on  shore  after  having  embarked.  —  Webster. 

Religion.     To  get  religion  is  a  technical  term  among  certain  sects,  mean- 
ing to  be  converted. 

To  Reloan.     To  loan  again;  to  lend  what  has  been  lent  and  repaid. — 
Webster. 

To  Remind,  for  remember ;   as,  "  the  company  will  please  remind^'    A 
New  York  vulgarism. 

Removability.     The  capacity  of  being  removed  from  an  office  or  station ; 
capacity  of  being  displaced.  —  Webster. 

Rench.     a  vulgar  pronunciation  of  the  word  rinse. 

Renewedly.     Anew ;  again ;  once  more.     A  word  often  used  by  Amer- 
ican preachers,  but  not  supported  by  good  English  use.  —  Worcester. 

Rendition,  for  rendering.    A  new  use  of  the  word. 

The  Baltimore  Sun  of  August  17,  1858,  after  recording  the  acquittal 
of  a  man  tried  for  murder,  says : 

On  the  rendition  of  the  verdict,  the  large  audience  present  manifested  enthusiastic 
approbation. 

At  half  past  7  o'clock  this  evening  two  gentlemen  arc  announced  to  deliver  ad- 
dresses to  the  public  on  behalf  of  the  "  Bible  Union  "  organization,  which  has  for 
its  purpose  the  closest  possible  rendition  of  the  meaning  of  the  original  text  of  the 
Scriptures  into  English  and  other  modern  tongues.  —  Nat.  Intelligencer,  Nov.  11, 
1858. 


REO  — EES  361 

To  Reopen.  To  open  again.  —  Webste)-.  This  word  is  much  used.  The 
theatre  reopens  for  the  season ;  the  schools  reopen  after  their  vacations. 

Reorganization.  The  act  of  organizing  anew ;  as, "  repeated  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  troops."  —  Webster. 

Repetitious.     Repeating ;  containing  repetition.  —  Webster. 

Mr.  Pickering  notices  this  word,  which  he  thinks  is  peculiar  to  the 
writer  from  whom  the  following  extract  is  taken  : 

The  observation  which  you  have  quoted  from  the  Abb^  Raynal,  which  has  been 
written  off  in  a  succession  not  much  less  repetitious  or  protracted  than  that  in  which 
schoolboys  of  former  times  wrote.  —  Remarks  on  the  Review  of  Inchiquin's  Letters, 
Boston,  1815. 

Mr.  "Worcester,  however,  cites   the  North  American  Review  and  R. 
Anderson  as  authorities  for  its  use. 

Republicans.  A  party  name  which  has  been  several  times  adopted  in  the 
history  of  American  politics.  It  is  now  held  by  a  party  formally  organ- 
ized in  the  year  1856,  the  main  "  plank  "  of  whose  "  platform  "  is,  oppo- 
sition to  the  extension  of  slavery  to  new  territories.  On  account  of  their 
supposed  fondness  for  the  negroes,  they  have  been  commonly  styled  by 
their  opponents  Black  Republicans. 

The  Republican  party,  as  our  readers  are  well  aware,  was  called  into  being  solely 
to  resist  the  encroachments  of  slavery  upon  the  free  territory  of  the  Union  and  upon 
the  free  States.  It  was  a  combination  of  men  of  varying  political  antecedents ; 
some  had  been  Whigs,  some  Democrats,  some  Americans,  some  Abolitionists,  some 
had  always  kept  aloof  from  politics.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  July  9,  1858. 

Requisition.  A  demand  of  the  executive  of  one  county  or  State  upon 
another  for  a  fugitive  from  justice. 

Under  the  old  confederation  of  the  American  States,  Congress  often  made  requi- 
sitions on  the  States  for  money  to  supply  the  treasury ;  but  they  had  no  power  to  en- 
force the  requisitions,  and  the  States  neglected  or  partially  complied  with  them.  — 
Alex.  Hamilton. 

To  Reship.  To  ship  again ;  to  ship  what  has  been  conveyed  by  water  or 
imported.  —  Webster. 

Much  used  in  all  our  commercial  cities. 

Resident  Graduate.  Graduates  of  colleges  who  are  desirous  of  pursu- 
ing their  studies  at  a  college,  without  joining  any  of  its  departments. 
They  may  attend  the  public  lectures  given  in  the  institution,  and  enjoy 
the  use  of  its  library. 

Reservation.  A  tract  of  the  public  land  reserved  or  set  aside  for  some 
public  use,  as  for  schools,  the  Indians,  etc.  In  Canada  are  the  "  Clergy 
Reserves  "  for  the  support  of  the  clergy. 

Reservations  of  land  thirty  miles  square  shall  be  surveyed  on  the  frontier  for  the 
friendlv  Indians.  —  Laivs  of  Texas. 

31 


862  RES 

Resolve.  Legal  or  official  determination ;  legislative  act  concerning  a 
private  person  or  corporation,  or  concerning  some  private  business. 
Public  acts  of  a  legislature  respect  the  State ;  and  to  give  them  validity, 
the  bills  for  such  acts  must  pass  through  all  the  legislative  forms.  Re- 
solves are  usually  private  acts,  and  are  often  passed  with  less  formality.  — 
Webster. 

Restitutionists.  a  religious  sect  which  has  recently  sprung  up  in  Wor- 
cester and  some  other  places.  The  following  account  is  given  of  it  by 
the  "  "Worcester  Transcript : " 

The  Restitutionists  believe  that  what  man  lost  in  the  fall  is  now  begin- 
ning to  be  restored ;  and  that  the  germ,  now  confined  to  their  own  small 
number,  is  yet  to  bud  and  flourish  till  it  covers  the  earth.  They  are  all 
Restitutionists  in  one  sense  —  they  believe  that  every  thing  is  to  come 
back  to  its  original  form  and  purity.  Their  Sabbath,  therefore,  occurs 
on  Saturday,  as  the  original  day  of  worship ;  and  their  meetings  are 
held  Friday  evening,  because  it  is  Sunday  eve.  They  only  use  the  Lord's 
prayer,  as  that  alone  can  have  efficacy  with  the  Father.  To  them  —  or 
three  of  them  at  least  —  is  committed  the  apostolic  gift  of  tongues.  This 
gift  appears  to  be  rather  useless,  as  the  words  spoken  are  not  only  un- 
intelligible to  bystanders,  but  to  the  others  who  have  a  like  gift,  till  the 
inward  manifestation  of  the  spirit  makes  it  known.  They  are  God's 
chosen  and  willing  instruments,  in  whom  the  Holy  Spirit  now  develops 
himself  partially,  but  through  whose  instrumentality  the  world  is  soon  to 
be  entirely  restored. 

This  sect,  small  in  numbers,  is  strong  in  the  faith  and  working  activity 
of  its  members.  There  are  others  of  a  like  faith  in  Athol,  New  Brain- 
tree,  Springfield,  and  other  places. 

Result.  The  decision  or  determination  of  a  council  or  deliberative  as- 
sembly ;  as,  "  the  result  of  an  ecclesiastical  council."  Peculiar  to  New 
England. —  Webster. 

To  Result.  To  decide  or  decree,  as  an  ecclesiastical  council.  —  Picker- 
ing. 

According  to  Dr.  Milncr,  the  Council  of  Nice  resulted,  in  opposition  to  the  views 
of  Arius,  that  the  Son  was  peculiarly  of  the  Father,  etc.  —  Bible  News,  Rev.  N. 
Worcester. 

To  Resurrect.  To  reanimate,  to  restore  to  life,  to  bring  to  public  view 
that  which  was  forgotten  or  lost. 

In  a  note  at  the  end  of  the  6th  vol.  of  Mr.  Benton's  "  Abridgment 
of  the  Debates  of  Congress,"  in  speaking  of  the  founders  of  the  govern- 
ment, "  who  are  all  gone  —  their  bodies  buried  in  the  earth,  their  works 
buried  under  rubbish,  and  their  names  beginning  to  fade  away,"  the 
author  adds : 
£,'■/.. /At  J  7. 3 'Tf 


RET  — REV  363 

I  resurrect  the  whole  !  put  them  in  scene  again  on  the  living  stage,  every  one  with 
the  best  of  his  works  in  his  hand. 

Retikacied.     Retired.    New  England. 

The  new-comer  who  lands  in  certain  to^vns  in  New  England,  expecting  to  find 
himself  among  the  most  verdant  country  Yankees,  is  compelled  to  admit  that  there 
are  no  places  in  the  world  similarly  rairacied  which  are  less  provincial  or  more  agree- 
able. —  Mace  Spicer,  in  Knickerbocker  Mag.,  March,  1856. 

Retiract.  1.  Retirement.  This  absurd  word  is  often  applied  to  the  con- 
dition of  politicians  who  have  retired,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  to  private 
Ufe. 

Here  I  shall  stay  and  amuse  myself  in  what  one  of  our  great  men  used  to  call 
dignified  retiracy.  —  The  Upper  Ten  Thousand,  p.  286. 

2.  Sufficiency ;  competency.  It  is  said,  in  New  England,  of  a  person 
who  left  oflf  business  with  a  fortune,  that  he  has  a  retiracy  ;  i.  e.  a  suffi- 
cient fortune  to  retire  upon. 

To  Retike.  To  withdraw  ;  to  take  away ;  to  make  to  retire.  —  Johnson. 
This  transitive  use  of  the  verb,  which  had  become  obsolete,  is  now 
reviving  in  this  country.  Of  the  many  examples  from  good  old  writers 
given  by  Johnson,  we  will  quote  only  one  from  Shakspeare : 

He,  our  hope,  might  have  retired  his  power. 

And  driven  into  despair  an  enemy's  hate.  —  Richard  II. 

With  us  it  is  used  by  military  men  of  withdrawing  troops. 

General  Rosas  insisted  on  the  blockade  being  removed  before  he  retired  his  troops 
from  the  Banda  Oriental.  —  Newspaper. 

And  by  merchants  of  paying  their  notes. 

The  French  houses  are  retiring  their  notes,  due  next  month,  in  advance,  anticipating 
commercial  difficulties. — Newspaper. 

Retortive.     Containing  retort.  —  Webster. 

To  Retrospect.     To  look  back. 

To  give  a  correct  idea  of  the  circumstances  which  have  gradually  produced  this 
conviction,  it  may  be  useful  to  retrospect  to  an  early  period.  —  Letter  from  Alex. 
Hamilton  to  John  Adams. 

The  word  is  rare  in  American  writings ;  and  from  Mr.  Pickering's 
observations,  it  appears  that,  although  it  has  been  used  in  England,  it 
has  not  found  favor  there. 

To.  Revamp.    To  patch  up,  renew.     Originally  a  shoemaker's  term. 

Revenue  Cutter.  A  small  and  swift  armed  vessel  stationed  at  a  sea- 
port to  protect  the  revenue  by  overhauling  smugglers. 


364  REV  — RID 

Reverent.  Strong;  as,  ."reverent  whiskey,"  i.  e.  not  diluted. —  Sher- 
wood's Georgia. 

Revolver.  It  is  time  that  this  word,  applied  to  a  revolving  pistol, 
should  have  a  place  in  the  dictionary.  In  the  first  invention,  the  bar- 
rel, which  contained  several  tubes,  was  made  to  revolve.  In  the 
present,  and  most  approved  form,  the  breech,  which  contains  the  charge, 
alone  revolves.  On  the  Western  frontier  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
California,  where  they  are  most  used,  these  arms  are  universally  called 
"  five  shooters,"  or  "  six  shooters,"  according  to  the  number  of  charges 
they  can  receive. 

Rhodt.  a  diminutive  often  applied  to  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  from  its 
limited  territory.     Sometimes  it  is  called  "  Little  Rhody." 

Old  Newport,  billow-cradled,  see, 
On  lihody's  verdant  shore ; 

)      ,     'Tis  there  old  Ocean  shakes  his  mane, 

y  Q/  ^  C  ii_  Kesounding  evermore.  —  Anonymous. 

RiCE-BraD.     See  Bobolink. 

Rich.     Luscious ;  i.  e.  entertaining,  highly  amusing. 

Mr.  Richardson  is  rich  on  rabbits  ;  and  divides  them  into  four  races.  —  London 
Athenceum,  Dec.  1847. 

Thar  we  was,  settin'on  our  horses,  rollin'  with  laughin'  and  liquor,  and  thought 
the  thing  was  rich  [alluding  to  a  dog-fight].  —  Porter's  Southwestern  Tales,  p.  57. 

About  as  rich  an  instance  of  oflBcial  idleness,  self-conceit,  and  incivility,  as  we 
have  seen,  fell  under  our  notice  yesterday,  —  N.  Y.  Com.  Adv. 

RiCHWOOD.  (Pilea  pumila.)  A  stingless  nettle,  so  called  from  its  succu- 
lent and  semi-transparent  stem.     It  is  also  called  Clearweed. 

To  Ride.  1.  The  use  of  the  word  ride,  both  as  a  verb  and  a  noun,  in  the 
sense  of  being  conveyed  in  a  carriage,  has  been  regarded  as  an  American- 
ism. Nevertheless,  it  has  been  good  English  for  centuries,  and,  as  Mr. 
"Worcester  observes,  is  sanctioned  by  the  most  eminent  English  lexi- 
cographers. 

He  made  him  to  ride  in  the  chariot.  —  Gen.  42  :  43. 

English  writers  of  the  present  day,  however,  consider  it  as  correct 
to  use  it  only  of  conveyance  on  horseback,  or  some  other  motive  power, 
as  in  the  following  extract  from  Cowper :  "  Sometimes  I  get  into  a  neigh- 
bor's chaise,  but  generally  ride  [i.  e.  on  horseback]  ; "  but  of  conveyance 
in  a  carriage,  they  use  the  verb  to  drive. 

2.  To  carry,  transport.  In  the  city  of  New  York  this  word  is  used  of 
calling  or  carrying  merchandise  on  a  cart.  Thus,  to  ride  a  box  or  bale 
of  goods  is  to  carx-y  it     I  heard  a  witness  in  a  court-room  testify  that  he 


RID  — RIG  365 

had  "  rode  some  hogs  from  the  wharf  to  the  store,"  by  which  he  meant 
that  he  had  carried  a  load  of  dead  hogs  on  his  cart. 

To  Ride  and  Tie.  Said  of  two  persons  travelling  on  the  same  horse,  one 
of  whom  rides  ahead,  and  at  a  suitable  place  ties  the  horse  for  his  com- 
panion ;  he  walks  on  and  his  companion  rides  and  ties ;  and  so  they 
continue  to  do  by  turns.     Maiyland  and  Virginia. 

Riding  Rock.  A  conspicuous  rock  at  a  ford,  used  to  show  the  depth  of 
the  water  and  the  safety  of  crossings.  A  stream  is  said  to  be  "  out  of 
ride  "  when  it  is  past  fording ;  "  out  of  bank,"  is  a  still  higher  stage  of 
the  water,  i.  e.  over  its  banks.     Maryland  and  Virginia. 

To  Rights.     Directly;  soon. —  Webster. 

If  folks  will  do  what  I  tell  'em,  things  will  go  strdght  enough  to  rights.  —  Maj. 
Downing' s  Letters,  p.  5. 

So  to  rights  the  express  got  back,  and  brought  a  letter.  —  Ibid.  p.  129. 

Aunt.  You  see  where  she  lives — five  doors  down  the  street;  deliver  this  letter, 
and  bring  back  an  answer  —  quick. 

Dodittle.  In  a  jiffing ;  I  '11  be  back  to  rights.  —  D.  Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in 
England. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Nathaniel,  I  suppose  you  never  heard  me  tell  of  the  curious  way  of 
my  first  seeing  the  squire  ?  " 

I  said  I  had  never  heard  it — So  she  began  to  rights,  and  told  the  whole  thing. 
—  Story  of  the  Sleigh  Ride. 

Right.  Very.  The  word  in  this  sense  is  rarely  heard  at  the  North,  but 
is  in  constant  use  at  the  South ;  as,  "  It  rains  right  hard."  A  New 
Yorker  would  say  "  very,"  or  "  quite  "  hard. 

Right  away.     Directly  ;  immediately  ;  right  off. 

Mr.  Dickens,  in  his  "  American  Notes,"  relates  the  following  anecdote, 
which  occurred  at  the  Tremont  House,  Boston : 

"  Dinner  as  quick  as  possible,"  said  I  to  the  waiter. 

"Right  away  ?  "  said  the  waiter. 

After  a  moment's  hesitation,  I  answered,  "  No,"  at  hazard. 

"  Not  right  away  ?  "  cried  the  waiter  with  surprise. 

I  thought  the  waiter  must  have  gone  out  of  his  mind,  until  another  whispered  to 
him  "  directly." 

"  Well !  and  that 's  a  fact !  "  said  the  waiter,  "  Right  away." 

I  now  saw  that  "  right  away  "  and  "  directly  *'  meant  the  same  thing. 

"  Uncle  John,"  said  Nina,  "  I  want  you  to  get  the  carriage  out  for  me  right  away^ 
I  want  to  take  a  ride  over  the  cross-run."  —  Mrs  Stowe's  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  89. 

Right  off.  Directly ;  immediately ;  used  the  same  as  the  previous  ex- 
pression. 

Mr.  "Webster  thus  writes  to  Mr.  Edw.  Curtis,  appointing  a  meeting : 
On  the  first  of  October,  mutton  and  chickens  would  be  good  in  New  Hampshire. 
31* 


866  RIG— RIL 

Let  us  first  meet  in  Boston,  and  then  take  a  fair  start  together.  If  the  Governor 
prefers  Marshfield,  we  will  go  to  that  place  and  shut  ourselves  up  in  the  office  and 
do  the  work  right  off.  — Private  Correspondence,  Vol.  I.  p.  339. 

I  feel  wonderfully  consamed  about  that  pain  in  your  chest,  said  the  "Widow,  to 
Mr.  Crane.  It  ought  to  be  attended  to  riyht  off,  Mr.  Crane,  right  off.  —  Widow 
Bedott  Papers. 

The  Californians  are  eminently  practical ;  what  they  mean  to  do,  they  do  right  off 
with  all  their  might,  as  if  they  really  meant  to  do  it.  —  Borthwick,  California,  p.  226. 

Right  Smart.     1.  Good  sized ;  large. 

The  provisions  were  divided  and  served  out,  each  man's  ration  consisting  of  a 
pint  of  mouldy  com  and  a  right  smart  chunk  of  bacon.  —  Olmsted's  Texas,  p.  301 . 

2.  A  good  deal.  "  Ma,"  says  a  child,  "  shall  I  toast  right  smart  of 
this  bread  ?  "     The  mother  replies,  "  I  reckon."     Southern. 

I  sold  right  smart  of  eggs  this  summer,  and  sweet  potatoes  always  fetch  a  good 
price.  —  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  II.  p.  157. 

She  had  right  smart  of  life  in  her,  and  was  always  right  busy  'tending  to  something 
or  other.  —  Ibid.  Vol.  I.  p.  209. 

It 's  a  heap  warmer  to-day,  and  I  'm  sure  we  '11  make  right  smart  of  com.  — 
Southern  Tales. 

Right  Smart  Chance.     See  Smart  Chance. 

To  Right  up.     To  put  to  rights,  set  in  order. 

To  Rile.  This  word,  says  Mr.  "Worcester,  is  provincial  in  England  and 
colloquial  in  the  United  States.  The  original  spelling  and  pronunciation, 
roil,  is  almost,  if  not  entirely,  obsolete  in  this  country. 

1.  To  render  turbid  by  stirring  up  the  sediment. 

No  doubt  existed  in  the  minds  of  Mr.  Dobb's  fellow-boarders,  that  the  well  of  his 
good  spirits  had  been  riled.  —  Neal's  Coarcoal  Sketches. 

2.  To  make  angry.  Provincial  in  England,  and  coUoquial  in  the 
United  States.  —  Worcester.  In  both  countries  it  is  now  commonly 
pronounced  and  written  rile. 

John  was  a-dry,  and  soon  cried  out — 

Goon  git  some  beer  we  'ool ! 
He'd  so  to  wait,  it  made  him  i-iled. 
The  booths  were  all  shock  full. 

J.  Noakes  and  Mary  Styles. 
I  won't  say  your  country  or  my  country,  and  then  it  won't  rile  nobody.  —  Sam 
Slick  in  England. 

I  tell  you  what,  I  was  monstrous  riled  t'other  day,  when  I  got  a  letter  from 
Crockett,  calling  me  hard  names  and  abusin'  me.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship, 

It  riled  me  so  that  I  just  steps  up  to  him,  as  savage  as  a  meat-axe,  intending  to 
throw  him  down  stairs.  — Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  241. 

We  begin  to  tliink  it 's  natur 

To  take  sarse  and  not  be  riled :  — 


RIL  — RIS  367 

Who  'd  expect  to  see  a  tater 
All  on  eend  at  bcia'  biled  1  —  The  Biglow  Papers. 

EiLY.     1.  Turbid.     2.  Excited  to  resentment,  vexed. 

The  boys  and  gals  were  laughin'  at  my  scrape  and  the  pickle  I  was  in,  that  I  gin 
to  get  riley.  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life,  p.  64. 

To  Ring  one's  own  Bell  is  the  same  as  "  to  be  one's  own  trumpeter." 

Ring-tailed  Roarer.     See  Roarer. 

To  Rip.  To  tear,  to  drive.  A  common  slang  expression  is  "  Lei  her 
tip  !  "  i.  e.  let  her  drive,  let  her  go. 

Great  Odin,  thou  storm-god ! 
Crack  on  with  our  ship  ! 
We  are  off  on  a  batter ; 

Hurrah,  let  her  rip.  —  Leland,  Knickerbocker  Gallery. 
Another  phrase,  which  often  glides  in  music  from  the  lip. 
Is  one  of  fine  significance  and  beauty,  "  Let  her  rip." 
In  the  late  panic  we  have  kept  this  mandate  o'er  and  o'er. 
And  "  let  her  rip  "  so  frequently,  that  some  can  rip  no  more. 

Park  Benjamin,  Poem  on  Hard  Times. 

To  Rip  out.     To  utter  with  vehemence,  to  swear  ;  as  "to  rip  out  an  oath."  C/'.  '^/t-. :} 
I  suppose  the  clergy  would  n't  give  me  a  chance  for  heaven,  because  I  rip  out  with 
an  oath  every  now  and  then.    But  I  can't  help  swearing,  if  I  should  die  for  it.    They 
say  it 's  dreadfully  wicked  ;  but  I  feel  more  Cliristian  when  I  let  out,  than  when  I 
keep  in  !  —  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  272. 

Here  I  ripped  out  something,  perhaps  rather  rash, 
Quite  innocent,  though ;  but,  to  use  an  expression 
More  striking  than  classic,  it  settled  my  hash. 
And  proved  very  soon  the  last  of  our  session. 

Butler,  Nothing  to  Wear. 

To  Rip-rap.  To  make  a  foundation  of  stones  thrown  together  without 
order  in  deep  water. 

If,  in  constructing  a  bulkhead,  it  should  be  determined  to  riprap  to  low-water 
mark,  there  would  be  but  a  slight  difference  in  favor  of  the  bulkhead  ;  the  cost  for 
rip-rapping,  estimating  at  thi-ee  cents  a  foot,  would  be  about  eighty  thousand  dollars. 
—  Doc.  of  N.  Y.  Aldermen,  No.  9,  1848. 

Ripper.     A  tearer,  driver.  —  Webster. 

Rip-snorter,  Rip-staver.     A  tearer,  driver,  dasher. 

Rise.  The  phrase  "  and  the  rise."  is  used  in  some  parts  of  the  South  to 
mean  "  and  more  ; "  as,  "  I  should  think  there  were  a  thousand  and  the 
rise"  i,  e.  a  thousand  and  more,  over  a  thousand. 

Rising,  or  Rising  of.  More  than  ;  upwards  of;  as,  "  James  Smithson 
bequeathed  to  the  United  States  rising  half  a  million  of  dollars."  "  There 
were  rising  of  a  thousand  men  killed  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista." 


368  RIS  — ROB 

Risky.     Dangerous;  hazardous. 

My  friends  has  wondered  at  me,  said  the  Widow  Bedott,  for  continuing  single  so 
long ;  but  I  always  told  them  't  was  a  rery  resky  business  to  take  a  second  partner. 
—  Bedott  Papers,  p.  144. 

River.  Mr.  Pickering  observes  that  the  Americans,  in  speaking  of  rivers, 
commonly  put  the  name  before  the  word  river,  thus,  Connecticut  river, 
Charles  river,  Merrimack  river,  Hudson  river,  Susquehanna  river  ;  whereas 
the  English  place  the  name  after  it,  and  say,  the  river  Thames,  the  river 
Danube,  etc. 

River-Bottoms.  The  bottom  or  alluvial  land  along  the  margin  of  rivers. 
See  Bottom  and  Bottom  Lands. 

The  alluvial  terraces  or  river-bottoms,  as  they  are  popularly  termed,  were  the  favorite 
sites  of  these  builders  [of  the  ancient  works  in  Ohio] .  The  principal  mounds  are 
found  where  these  bottoms  are  most  extended.  —  Squier  and  Davis's  Monuments 
Mississippi  Valley,  p.  6. 

River-Driver.  A  term  applied  by  lumbermen  in  Maine,  to  a  man  whose 
business  it  is  to  conduct  logs  down  running  streams,  to  prevent  them 
from  lodging  upon  shoals  or  remaining  in  eddies. 

River-Thief.  One  of  a  class  of  thieves  in  New  York  city  who  in  boats 
prowl  about  vessels  at  night  and  plunder  them. 

Roach.     A  cockroach. 

Roanoke.     Indian  shell  money  ;  so  called  in  Virginia.     See  Peage. 

Roarer.     One  who  roars ;  a  noisy  man.  —  Worcester. 

Ben  was  an  old  Mississippi  roarer  —  none  of  your  half  and  half,  but  just  as  natire 
to  the  element,  as  if  he  had  been  born  in  a  broad-horn.  —  RoU),  Squatter  Life,  p.  64. 

This  is  sometimes  intensified  into  ring-tailed  roarer. 
And  when  he  got  a  arguing  strong, 
He  was  a  ring-tailed  roarer.  —  Western  Song. 

Roasting-Ears.  Indian  corn  in  the  green  state  fit  for  roasting.  This 
term  is  much  used  in  the  South  and  West  for  green  corn  in  general, 
either  raw  or  cooked.  It  is  borrowed  from  the  Indian  custom  of  roasting 
the  ears  before  a  fire  or  in  the  hot  ashes,  which  however  is  now  practised 
only  out  of  doors,  as  on  pic-nic  occasions.  The  common  mode  of  cook- 
ing is  by  boiling. 

The  Indians  delight  much  to  feed  on  roasting-ears,  gathered  green  and  milky 
before  it  is  grown  to  its  full  bigness,  and  roasted  before  the  fire  in  the  ear.  —  And 
indeed  this  is  a  very  sweet  and  pleasing  food. — Beverley's  Virginia,  1705,  Book  III. 

Robe.  (French.)  A  dressed  skin ;  applied  only  to  that  of  the  buffalo. 
A  pack  of  robes  is  ten  skins,  tied  in  a  pack,  which  is  the  manner  in 
which  they  are  brought  from  the  far  "West  to  market.  For  the  skins  of 
other  wild  animals,  we  use   the   term   skin,  as  deei'-si'm,  beaver-s^m, 


ROC  — ROL  369 

muskrat-sKw,  etc.,  but  never  huffalo-shin.    The  term  is  sometimes  cor- 
rupted into  buffalo-ni^r. 

The  robes  of  the  buffaloes  are  worn  by  the  Indians  -instead  of  blankets  —  their 
skins,  when  tanned,  are  used  as  coverings  for  their  lodges,  etc.  —  CatUn's  Indians, 
Vol.  I.  p.  262, 

The  large  and  roomy  sleigh  decked  with  buffalo,  black  bear,  and  lynx  robes,  red 
bound  and  furnished  with  sham  eyes  and  ears.  —  The  Upper  Ten  Thousand,  p.  4. 

Rock.  1.  A  stone.  In  the  Southern  and  Western  States,  and  also  in 
some  parts  of  New  England,  stones  of  any  size  are  absurdly  called  rochs. 

Brother  S came  home  in  a  mighty  bad  way,  with  a  cold  and  cough ;  so  I  put 

a  hot  rock  to  his  feet  and  gave  him  a  bowl  of  catnip  tea,  which  put  him  in  a  mighty 
fine  sweat,  etc.  —  Georgia  Scenes,  p.  193. 

Mr.  M was  almost  dead  with  the  consumption,  and  had  to  carry  rocks  in  his 

pocket  to  keep  the  wind  from  blowin'  him  away.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Travels. 

I  see  Arch.  Cooney  walk  down  to  the  creek  bottom,  and  then  he  begin  pickin'  up 
rocks  an'  slingin'  them  at  the  dogs.  — Mike  Hooter,  by  a  Missourian. 

2.  A  piece  of  money.     A  slang  term  peculiar  to  the  South. 
Spare  my  feelings.  Squire,  and  don't  ask  me  to  tell  any  more.     Here  I  am  in 
town  without  a  rock  in  my  pocket,  without  a  skirt  to  my  coat,  or  crown  to  my  hat. 
—  Pickings  from  the  New  Orleans  Picayune. 

To  Rock.  To  throw  stones  at;  to  stone.  This  supremely  ridiculous 
expression  is  derived  from  the  preceding. 

They  commenced  rocking  the  Clay  Club  House  in  June,  on  more  occasions  than 
one,  and  on  one  occasion  threw  a  rock  in  at  the  window,  hitting  Mr.  Clem  on  the 
shoulder,  etc.  —  Jonesborough  {Tenn.)  Whig. 

Rock  AWAY.  A  light  carriage,  open  at  the  sides,  and  capable  of  holding 
from  six  to  nine  persons. 

Rock-Fish.     See  Striped  Bass. 

Rocker.     See  Cradle. 

Rodeo.  (Span.)  To  give  or  make  a  rodeo  is  to  collect  in  an  enclosure 
the  large  herds  of  cattle  on  stock  farms,  for  the  purpose  of  separating 
and  counting  and  marking  them.     California. 

Every  owner  of  a  stock  farm  shall  be  obliged  to  give  yearly  one  general  rodeo : 
.  .  .  and  the  person  giving  such  general  rodeo  shall  give  notice  thereof  to  all  owners 
of  the  adjoining  farms,  at  least  four  days  before  said  rodeos  are  made,  for  the  purpose 
of  separating,  marking,  and  branding  their  respective  cattle,  etc.  —  Laws  of  Cali- 
fornia, chap.  92. 

RoKEAGE,  or  YoKEAGE.  Indian  corn  parched,  pulverized,  and  mixed 
with  sugar. 

Rolling  Country,  or  Rolling  Prairie.  The  vast  plains  or  prairies 
of  the  West,  although  preserving  a  general  level  in  respect  to  the  whole 
country,  are  yet  in  themselves  not  flat,  but  exhibit  a  gracefully  waving 


870"  EOL  — ROP 

surface,  swelling  and  subsiding  with  an  easy  slope  and  a  full  rounded  out- 
line, equally  avoiding  the  unmeaning  horizontal  surface  and  the  interrup- 
tion of  abrupt  or  angular  elevations.  It  is  that  surface  which,  in  the 
expressive  language  of  the  country,  is  called  rolling,  and  which  has  been 
said  to  resemble  the  long,  heavy  swell  of  the  ocean,  when  its  waves  are 
subsiding  to  rest  after  the  agitation  of  a  storm.  Such  are  rolling  prairies. 
—  Judge  Hall,  Notes  on  the  Western  States. 

The  country  was  what  was  termed  rolling,  from  some  fancied  resemblance  to  the 
surface  of  the  ocean  when  it  is  just  undulating  with  a  long  ground  swell.  —  Cooper, 
The  Oak  Openings, 

Here  one  of  the  characteristic  scenes  of  the  Far  West  broke  upon  us.  An  immense 
extent  of  grassy,  undulating,  or  as  it  is  termed,  rolling  country,  with  here  and  there 
a  clump  of  trees,  dimly  seen  in  the  distance  like  a  ship  at  sea ;  the  landscape  deriv- 
ing sublimity  from  its  vastness  and  simplicity.  —  Irving' s  Tour  on  the  Prairies,  p. 
100. 

The  cabin  was  on  the  edge  of  a  bluff ;  but  the  door  opened  on  a  fine  rolling  prai- 
rie, dotted  all  over  with  flowers,  which,  in  variety  of  color,  vied  with  the  rainbow.  — 
Mrs.  Robinson's  Kansas,  p.  41. 

Rolling-Roads.  So  called  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  from  the  old  cus- 
tom of  rolling  tobacco  to  market  in  hogsheads,  just  as  if  one  would  drag 
a  barrel  or  churn  on  the  ground,  by  attaching  thills  to  axles  or  pivots  fas- 
tened to  it.  This  mode  of  transportation  was  stUl  in  use  twenty  years 
ago. 

To  Room.  To  occupy  a  room  ;  to  lodge ;  as,  "  In  order  to  save  expense 
and  have  company,  I  room  with  my  friend  Brown,"  i.  e.  occupy  the  same 
room  with  him. 

Rooster.     The  male  of  the  domestic  fowl ;  the  cock. 

As  if  the  flourish  of  the  quill  were  the  crowing  of  a  rooster.  —  NeaJ's  Charcoal 
Sketches. 

A  huge  turkey  gobbling  in  the  road,  a  rooster  crowing  on  the  fence,  and  ducks 
quacking  in  the  ditches.  —  Margaret,  p.  187. 

The  Skinners  and  Cow  Boys  of  the  Revolution,  when  they  wrung  the  neck  of  a 
rooster,  did  not  trouble  their  heads  whether  they  crowed  for  Congress  or  King 
George.  — Irving,  Wolfert's  Roost,  p.  17. 

To  Rope.  To  catch  an  animal,  as  a  buffalo,  a  horse,  etc.,  by  throwing  the 
lasso  or  lariat  over  its  head. 

Yep,  old  gal!  (said  he  to  his  mule)  keep  your  nose  open;  thar's  brown  skin 
about,  and  maybe  you  '11  get  roped  by  a  Rapaho  afore  momin'.  —  Ruxton,  Life  in 
the  Far  West. 

To  Rope  in.  1.  To  take  or  sweep  in  collectively ;  an  expression  much 
used  in  colloquial  language  at  the  West.  It  originated  in  a  common 
practice  of  drawing  in  hay  with  a  rope.  The  hay  is  at  first  heaped  in 
wind-rows.     A  rope,  with  a  horse  attached  to  each  end,  is  swept  like  a 


ROP  — ROU  371 

net  around  the  end  of  the  row,  which  is  thus  brought  together,   and 
dragged  to  any  part  of  the  field. 

2.  To  decoy,  viz.,  into  a  mock-auction  establishment,  a  gambhng-house, 
etc. 

Roper  in.  One  who  acts  as  a  decoy  for  a  gambling-house,  in  the  patent 
safe  game,  etc. 

Mr.  A complained  to  the  police  that  a  young  man  at  his  hotel,  who  turned 

out  to  be  a  roper  in  of  a  gambling  house,  had  enticed  him  away,  and  by  whose  means 
he  had  lost  all  his  money.  —  Police  Report,  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Rosin  Weed.  {SilpMum  lacimatum.)  A  plant,  called  also  the  Compass 
Plant,  because  its  leaves  are  supposed  by  the  voyageurs  to  point  north 
and  south,  and  thus  to  serve  as  a  guide  to  the  traveller  over  the  prairies. 

Ross.  The  rough,  scaly  matter  on  the  surface  of  the  bark  of  certain  trees. 
—  Webster.  A  term  much  used  in  New  England,  as  well  as  in  the  Mid- 
dle States.     It  is  provincial  in  England. 

Roster.  1.  In  Massachusetts,  a  list  of  the  officers  of  a  division,  brigade, 
regiment,  etc.,  containing,  .under  several  heads,  their  names,  rank,  corps, 
place  of  abode,  etc.  These  are  called  division  rosters,  brigade  rosters, 
regimental  or  battalion  rosters. 

2.  The  word  is  frequently  used  instead  of  Register,  which  compre- 
hends a  general  list  of  all  the  officers  of  the  State,  from  the  commander- 
in-chief  to  the  lowest  in  the  commission,  under  the  same  appropriate 
heads,  with  an  additional  column  for  noting  the  alterations  which  take 
place.  —  W.  H.  Sumner. 

Rough  and  Tumble.  A  rough  and  tumble  fight  is  said  to  be  one  in  which 
all  the  laws  of  the  ring  are  discarded,  and  biting,  kicking,  gouging,  etc., 
are.  perfectly  admissible. 

RouGHSKiNS.     A  gang  of  Baltimore  bullies. 

Rough-scuff.     The  lowest  people ;  the  rabble. 

Round.  "  To  come  or  get  round  one,"  in  popular  language,  is  to  gain  ad- 
vantage over  one  by  flattery  or  deception.  —  Webster. 

Round  of  the  Papers.  To  say  that  an  article  is  "  going  the  rounds  of 
the  papers,"  meaning  that  it  is  being  copied  into  many  newspapers,  is 
called  an  Americanism  in  England. 

RouND-RiMMERS.  Hats  with  a  round  rim ;  hence,  those  who  wear  them. 
In  the  city  of  New  York,  a  name  applied  to  a  large  class  of  dissipated 
young  men,  by  others  called  Bowery  Boys  and  Soap-locks. 

All  over  the  region  of  East  Bowery  is  spread  —  holding  it  inclose  subjection — the 
powerful  class  of  round  rimmers ;  a  fraternity  of  gentlemen  who,  in  round  crape- 


372  ROU  — ROW 

bound  hats,  metal-mounted  blue  coats,  tallow-smoothed  locks,  etc.,  carry  dismaj 
and  terror  wherever  they  move. —  C.  Mathews,  Puffer  Hopkins,  p.  261. 

RousER.  Something  very  exciting  or  very  great.  Thus  an  eloquent 
speech  or  sermon,  a  large  mass-meeting,  or  a  big  prize-ox,  is  a  rouser. 

Rowdy.     A  riotous,  turbulent  fellow. 

All  around  the  oyster  and  liquor  stands  was  a  throng  of  low,  shabby,  dirty  men, 
some  horse-dealers,  some  gamblers,  and  some  loafers  in  general ;  but  alike  in  their 
•slang  and  rowdi/  aspect.  —  Upper  Ten  Thousand,  p.  239. 

The  rowdy  nomenclature  of  the  principal  cities  may  now  be  classified 
as  follows : 

New  YoKK. —  " Dead  Rabbits,"  "Bowery  Boys,"  "Forty  Thieves,"  "Skin- 
ners," "Robin  Hood  Club,"  "Huge  Paws,"  "Short  Boys,"  "Swill  Boys," 
"  Shoulder-hitters,"  "  Killers." 

Philadelphia.  —  "  Killers,"  "  Schuylkill  Annihilators,"  "  Moyamensing 
Hounds,"  "  Northern  Liberty  Skivers,"  and  "  Peep-of-Day  Boys." 

Baltimore.  —  " Plug  Uglies,"  " Rough  Skins,"  "Double  Pumps,"  "Tigers," 
"Black  Snakes,"  "Stay  Lates,"  "Hard  Times,"  "Little  PeUows,"  "Blood 
Tubs,"  "  Dips,"  "  Ranters,"  "  Rip-Raps,"  and  "  Gladiators." 

A  convention  of  the  Baltimore  rowdies  above  mentioned,  under  the 
name  of  the  "  American  Clubs,"  was  held  in  that  city  in  Sept.,  1857, 
under  the  plea  of  rallying  for  some  political  campaign  ;  in  commenting 
on  which,  the  "  Baltimore  Clipper  "  of  Sept.  8  says  :  "  Should  not  every 
true-hearted  American  blush  to  acknowledge  that  any  portion  of  his 
countrymen  glory  in  such  barbaric  and  degrading  names  ?  " 

To  Row  UP.  To  punish  with  words ;  to  rebuke.  It  is  an  essential  West- 
emism,  and  derived  from  the  practice  of  making  refractory  slaves  or 
servants  row  up  the  heavy  keel-boats  of  early  navigation  on  the  Western 
rivers,  against  the  current,  without  being  frequently  relieved.  It  was 
thus  regarded  as  a  punishment. 

We  should  really  like,  of  all  things,  to  row  up  the  majority  of  Congress  as  it  de- 
serves in  regard  to  the  practice.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Dec.  10,  1845. 

The  most  spicy  part  of  the  proceedings  in  the  Senate  was  the  rowing  up  which  Mr. 
Hannegan  gave  Mr.  Ritchie  of  the  Union  newspaper. — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Jan.  30, 1846. 

To  Row  UP  Salt  River  is  a  common  phrase,  used  generally  to  signify 
political  defeat.  The  distance  to  which  a  party  is  rowed  up  Salt  river 
depends  entirely  upon  the  magnitude  of  the  majority  against  its  candi- 
dates. If  the  defeat  is  particularly  overwhelming,  the  unsuccessful  party 
is  rowed  up  to  the  very  head  waters  of  Salt  river. 

It  is  occasionally  used  as  nearly  synonymous  with  to  row  up,  as  in  the 
following  example,  but  this  example  is  rare : 

Judge  Chtyton  made  a  speech  that  fairly  made  the  tumblers  hop.  He  rowed  the 
Tories  up  and  over  Salt  river.  —  Crockett,  Tour  Down  East,  p.  46. 

To  row  up  Salt  river  has  its  origin  in  the  fact  that  there  is  a  small 


ROW  — RUL  373 

stream  of  that  name  in  Kentucky,  the  passage  of  which  is  made  difficult 
and  laborious,  as  well  by  its  tortuous  course  as  by  the  abundance  of  shal- 
lows and  bars.  The  real  application  of  the  phrase  is  to  the  unhappy 
wight  who  has  the  task  of  propelling  the  boat  up  the  stream  ;  but  in  po- 
htical  or  slang  usage  it  is  to  those  who  are  rowed  up  —  the  passengers, 
not  the  oarsman.  —  [J.  Inman.'] 

Row  TO  Hoe.  To  have  a  long  (or  hard)  row  to  hoe,  is  a  common  figu- 
rative expression,  meaning  that  one  has  a  long  or  difficult  task  to  perform. 
The  allusion  is  to  hoeing  com  or  potatoes. 

Hosea  Bigelow  has  a  ballad  on  the  Mexican  war,  in  which  he  portrays 
the  effijrts  of  the  recruiting  officer  to  entice  a  young  man  to  enlist,  who 
declines  on  account  of  his  wife.     He  says : 

She  wants  me  for  home  consumption. 

Let  alone  the  hay 's  to  mow,  — 
If  you  're  arter  folks  o'  gumption, 

You  've  a  darned  long  row  to  hoe. 

Biglow  Papers. 

To  Rub  Out.  To  obliterate  ;  and  figuratively,  to  destroy,  to  kill. 
Western. 

However  quickly  the  buffalo  disappears,  the  red  man  goes  under  more  quickly 
still,  and  the  Great  Spirit  has  ordained  that  both  shall  be  rubbed  out  firom  the  face  of 
nature  at  the  same  time.  — Ruxton,  Life  in  the  Far  West,  p.  117. 

That  nation  [the  Camanche]  is  mad  —  a  heap  mad  with  the  whites,  and  has  dug 
up  the  hatchet  to  rub  out  all  who  enter  his  country.  —  Ibid.  p.  191. 

The  swift  current  [of  the  Jordan]  would  seize  us  and  send  us  off  at  a  salient  angle 
from  our  course,  as  if  it  had  been  lurking  behind  the  point  like  an  evil  thing  ...  as 
if  for  the  purpose  of  rubbing  us  out.  —  Lynch,  Dead  Sea  Exp.,  p.  216. 

Rubber.     India  rubber,  caoutchouc. 

Rubbers.     Overshoes  made  of  India  rubber. 

Ruffed  Grouse.  {Tetras  umhellus.)  A  bird  which  extends  over  the 
whole  breadth  of  the  continent,  northward  as  far  as  the  fifty-sixth  paral- 
lel, and  southward  to  Texas,  and  probably  still  further.  It  is  called  Par- 
tridge in  Connecticut,  and  Pheasant  at  the  South  and  West. 

Rugged.  Hardy;  robust;  healthy.  Colloquial  in  the  United  States. — 
Worcester, 

Why  it 's  an  unaccountable  fact  that  Mr.  Bedott  had  n't  seen  a  well  day  in  fifteen 
year,  though  when  he  was  married  I  should  n't  desire  to  see  a  mggeder  man  than  he 
was.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  22. 

Ruinatious.    A  vulgar  substitute  for  ruinous. 

The  war  was  very  ruinatious  to  our  profession  (said  the  barber).  —  Margaret, 
p.  210. 

Rullichies.     (Dutch,  roUetje,  little  roll.)     Chopped  meat  stuffed  into  small 

32 


874  RUM  — RUN 

bags  of  tripe,  which  are  then  cut  into  slices  and  fried.     An  old  and  favor- 
ite dish  among  the  descendants  of  the  Dutch  in  New  York. 

Rum-Bud.  A  grog  blossom ;  the  popular  name  of  a  redness  occasioned  by 
the  detestable  practice  of  excessive  drinking.  Rum-buds  usually  appear 
first  on  the  nose,  and  gradually  extend  over  the  face.  This  term  seems 
to  have  reference  to  the  disease  technically  defined  to  be  unsuppurative 
papule,  stationary,  confluent,  red,  mottled  with  purple,  chiefly  affecting 
the  face,  sometimes  produced  and  always  aggravated  by  the  use  of  alco- 
holic liquors,  by  exposure  to  heat,  etc.  —  Rush. 

Rum-Hole.     See  Groggery. 

Rum-Sucker.    An  habitual  drinker,  a  toper. 

One  of  the  best  things  that  can  be  applied  to  a  rocky  pasture  infested  with  bushes, 
briars,  or  weeds,  is  salt.  Salt  them  every  week  while  wet  with  rain  or  dew,  and  let 
the  stock  look  to  that  source  alone  for  a  supply  of  this  luxury,  which  they  run  after 
with  an  acquired  appetite  as  strong  as  that  of  a  rum-sucker.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  July  9, 
1858. 

Run.  a  small  stream,  or  rivulet.  A  word  common  in  the  Southern  and 
Western  States,  and  sometimes  heard  at  the  North. 

There  is  no  house  in  the  main  road  between  this  and  the  run ;  and  the  run  is  so 
high,  from  the  freshes,  that  you  will  not  be  able  to  find  it.  —  Davis's  Travels  in  the 
United  States  in  1797. 

The  hills  bordering  the  Ohio,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow  Creek,  contain  six 
workable  beds  of  coal,  while  there  are  at  least  two  others  which  lie  beneath  the  bed 
of  the  river.  Of  those  exposed,  the  fourth  in  the  ascending  series  contains  the  fishes 
and  reptiles  ;  it  is  known  on  Yellow  Creek  as  the  "  big  run,"  being  nearly  eight  feet 
in  thickness.  —  Silliman's  Journal,  Mai'ch,  1858. 

To  Run,  or  Run  upon.     To  quiz,  to  make  a  butt  of. 

He  is  a  quiet,  good-natured,  inoffensive  sort  of  a  chap,  and  will  stand  running 
upon  as  long  as  most  men,  but  who  is  a  perfect  tiger  when  his  passions  are  roused. 
— Southern  Sketches,  p.  137. 

To  Run  one's  Face.  To  make  use  of  one's  credit.  To  run  one's  face 
for  a  thing  is  to  get  it  on  tick. 

Any  man  who  can  run  his  face  for  a  card  of  pens,  a  quire  of  paper,  and  a  pair  of 
scissors,  may  set  up  for  an  editor ;  and  by  loud,  incessant  bragging,  may  secure  a 
considerable  patronage.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

To  Run  into  the  Ground.  To  carry  to  excess,  to  overdo  a  thing,  and 
thereby  mar  it.  Probably  a  hunter's  phrase,  to  express  the  earthing  of 
a  fox  or  other  game. 

The  proposition  to  prohibit  the  enlistment  of  foreigners  in  the  army  is  running 
Know  Nothingism  into  the  ground.  —  Providence  Journal. 

The  advocates  of  temperance  have  run  it  into  the  ground  by  their  extreme  measures 
connected  with  the  Maine  Law.  — N.  Y.  Herald. 

Run  of  Stones.    A  pair  of  miU-stones  is  called  a  run  of  stones  when  in 


RUN— SAD  375 

operation  or  placed  in  a  mill.     The  Rochester  flouring  mills  have  each 
ten  or  twenty  run  of  stones. 

Runner.  A  person  whose  business  it  is  to  solicit  passengers  for  steamboats 
and  railroads.  Numbers  of  these  men  are  always  found  about  the 
wharves,  shipping,  railroad  stations,  and  hotels  of  our  principal  cities, 
trying  to  induce  travellers  or  emigrants  to  travel  by  the  routes  they  re- 
commend, and  for  which  they  often  have  tickets  for  sale. 

Rush.  Spirit,  energy.  "  To  go  it  with  a  rush,  or  with  a  perfect  rush,"  is 
to  do  a  thing  energetically,  with  spirit. 

To  Rush  it.     To  do  a  thing  with  spirit ;  as,  "  The  old  negro  is  rushing  it 
.    with  his  fiddle." 

Rusty  Dab.  (Genus,  Platessa.  Cuvier.)  The  popular  name  of  the 
Rusty  Flat-fish,  a  fish  found  on  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  and  New 
York  in  deep  water. 

S. 
Sasbaday.     Sabbath  day,  Sunday.    So  called  in  the  interior  of  New  Eng- 

^         Newman.    You  look  better ;  I  hope  you  feel  better,  and  are  better  ? 

Doolittle.  Why,  I  expect  I  do,  and  I  guess  I  be,  all  three.  I  know  I  be,  as  to 
tiie  first  particular,  changing  my  old  shabby  duds  for  these  new  Sabbaday  clothes, 
for  a  go-to-meeting  day,  anywheres.  —  D.  Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  England,  p.  29. 

My  hearers,  there  is  nothing  irregular  in  nature  ;  because  it  is  round,  as  I  told  you 
last  Sabbaday :  it  rolls  evenly  round,  and  is  bound  to  come  regularly  around.  — 
Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  194. 

Sacatra.  The  name  given  in  Louisiana  to  the  offspring  of  a  griffe  and  a 
negress. 

Sachem.     (Abenaki  Ind.)     An  American  Indian  chief  or  prince. 

The  Sachems,  although  they  have  an  absolute  monarchy  over  the  people,  yet  they 
will  not  conclude  of  aught  that  concerns  all,  either  laws,  or  subsidies,  or  wars,  unto 
which  the  people  are  averse,  and  by  gentle  persuasion  cannot  be  brought.  —  R. 
Williams,  Key  to  the  Indian  Language. 

Sachemdom,  or   Sachemshh*.     The   government  or  jurisdiction  of  a 
^     sachem. 

King  Philip's  war  was  attended  with  exciting  an  universal  rising  of  the  Indian 
tribes,  not  only  of  Narragansett  and  the  Sachemdom  of  Philip,  but  of  the  Indians 
through  New  England,  except  the  Sachemdom  of  Uncas,  at  Mohegan.  —  Stile's  His- 
tory of  the  Judges  of  Charles  I.  p.  109.  " 

To  Saddy.  To  bob  up  and  down ;  to  curtsy  like  a  child.  Probably  a 
child's  corruption  of  Thank  ye,  applied  to  the  curtsy  which  accompanies 
the  phrase.  ^^   ^■(c/f-'^-a^^.^  zf.^pp-^; 


376  SAF  — SAI 

It  would  do  you  good  to  see  our  boys  and  girls  dancing.  None  of  your  straddling, 
mincing,  sadying ;  but  a  regular  sifter,  cut-the-buckle,  chicken-flutter  set-to.  — 
Crockett,  Tour. 

Safe.  1.  Sure,  certain ;  as,  "  He 's  safe  to  be  hanged."  —  Brockett.  In  this 
sense  the  word  is  common  in  the  South-west. 

2,  An  iron  box,  frequently  built  into  the  wall,  and  used  by  merchants 
as  a  place  of  deposit  for  their  books  and  papers.  They  are  now  generally 
made  fire-proof;  and  some  of  these  are  called  "  salamander  safes." 

Safety  Barge.  A  passenger  boat  towed  by  a  steamboat  at  such  a  dis- 
tance from  it  as  to  avoid  all  apprehension  of  danger  to  the  passengers. 
These  barges  were  first  introduced  on  the  Hudson  River  by  Mr.  Wm.  C. 
Redfield,  to  ply  between  New  York  and  Albany ;  and,  being  fitted  up 
with  taste  and  luxury,  they  became  great  favorites  with  travellers.  But 
our  countrymen  never  hold  their  fears  long ;  a  short  interval  of  exemp- 
tion from  steamboat  accidents  ended  the  excitement,  while  the  greater 
speed  of  the  ordinary  boats  gradually  drew  off  passengers  from  the 
barges,  until  they  could  be  no  longer  run  with  profit,  and  were  abandoned. 
—  SillimarCs  Journal,  Nov.  1857. 

Sagaban.  The  i-oot  of  the  Apios  tuheroso,  used  as  food  by  the  Indians  of 
the  North-west. 

Sagamore.  (Abenaki  Ind.)  The  title  of  a  chief  or  a  ruler  among  some 
of  the  American  tribes  of  Indians  ;  a  sachem.  —  Worcester. 

The  Indians  of  every  noated  plase  so  combined,  make  a  kind  of  petty  lordship, 
and  are  commonly  united  under  one  chief  person,  who  hath  the  rule  over  all  those 
lesser  fraternities  or  companies.  In  the  places  more  eastward  they  called  the  chief 
rulers  that  commanded  the  rest,  Bashabeas ;  as  in  the  more  westward  plantations 
they  called  them  Sagamores  and  sachems.  — Hubbard's  Gen.  Hist,  of  New  England. 
But  will  not  Waban  pass  Namasket  near 

Where  oft  that  wise  and  good  old  Sagamore, 
Brave  Massasoit,  spends  the  season  drear? — Dur/ee,Whatcheer,  Canto  11. 
If  the  young  Sagamore  is  to  be  led  to  the  stake,  the  Indians  shall  see  how  a  man 
without  a  cross  can  die  !  —  Cooper,  Last  of  the  Moliicans,  p.  394. 

Sag-Nichts.  The  German  rendering  of  the  political  term  Know-nothing, 
it  being  made  on  the  principle  that  those  who  know  nothing  had  better 
say  nothing. 

Saints.  "  The  Saints,"  is  a  title  which  the  Mormons  often  apply  to  them- 
selves on  ordinary  occasions,  their  full  designation  being  "  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Latter-day  Saints."  Whence  they  are  also  often 
called  Latter-day  Saints. 

But  the  most  fruitful  element  of  internal  commotion,  and  thatwhich  more  immedi- 
ately led  to  the  prophet's  death,  was  the  institution  of  polygamy  as  one  of  the  numer- 
ous privileges  of  the  Saints.  — Ferris,  Utah  and  the  Mormons,  p.  113. 


SAK  — SAL  377 

Sakes.  "  La  sakes  !  "  "  massy  sokes  !  "  "  sakes  alive ! "  are  very  common 
exclamations  among  the  venerable  matrons  of  the  interior  parts  of  the 
country.  The  first  two  expressions  are  evidently  corruptions  of  "  for 
the  Lord's  sake !  "  "  for  mercy's  sake ! "  But  the  last  must  be  left  for 
the  old  ladies  themselves  to  parse. 

La  sakes !  how  poor  she  is !  you  can  a  'most  see  her  bones  come  through  her 
skin  :  just  see  her  shoulder-blades ;  well  if  that  ain't  a  sight  1  —  Cousin  Cicely,  Silver 
Lake  SkeftJies. 

Why,  aikes  alive  !  do  tell  me  if  Enos  is  as  mean  as  all  that  comes  to.  —  Nutmeg- 
ville  Revisited,  N.  Y.  Com.  Adv. 

Salad.  In  the  Northern  States  often  used  specifically  for  lettuce,  of  which 
salad  is  frequently  made.  The  Philadelphia  Ledger,  in  an  article  on 
Fraser  river,  speaking  of  the  climate,  says : 

Fruit-trees  blossom  early  in  April,  and  salad  goes  to  head  by  the  middle  of  May, 
on  Vancouver's  Island.  —  July,  1838. 

Salamander.  In  Florida  and  Georgia  a  name  applied  to  a  species  of 
pouched  rat  (Geomi/s pinetis),  and  also  to  the  Menopoma  Alleghaniensis ; 
an  animal  of  disgusting  appearance,  with  a  broad,  flattened  head,  allied 
to  the  salamander  proper.  It  is  found  in  the  Ohio  and  some  of  the 
Southern  rivers. 

Salamander  Safe.    See  Safe. 

Saleratus.*  The  prepared  carbonate  of  soda  and  salt,  used  to  an  injurious 
extent  in  the  United  States  by  bakers  and  housekeepers  for  mixing  with 
flour,  to  evolve  the  carbonic  acid  gas  on  the  addition  of  water,  in  order  to 
expand  the  dough  and  render  the  bread  light. 

Sally  Lun.    A  name  for  a  sort  of  tea-cake* 

Salutatorlin.  The  student  of  a  college  who  pronounces  the  salutatory- 
oration  at  the  annual  Commencement.  —  Webster. 

Salutatory.  An  epithet  applied  to  the  oration  which  introduces  the 
exercises  of  the  Commencements  in  American  colleges.  —  Webster. 

Salt-Bottom.  A  plain  or  flat  piece  of  land  covered  with  saline  efllor- 
escences.  These  places  abound  in  Western  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and 
Arizona. 

Salt-Lick.    See  Lick. 

Salt  Grass  and  Salt  Hay.     The  grass  and  hay  growing  in  salt  marshes. 

Salt  Prairie.  In  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  the  tracts  of  salt  efflorescence 
which  often  cover  a  wide  space.  Capt.  Reid  speaks  of  some  fifty  miles 
in  length  and  breadth.  —  The  Bay  Hunters. 

32* 


378  SAL  — SAM 

Salt-Water  Vegetables.  In  New  York,  a  cant  term  for  oysters  and 
clams. 

Sam.  a  nickname  given  to  the  Know-Nothing  or  Native  American  party. 
See  the  articles  Hindoos,  Know-Nothings,  and  Native  Americans. 

The  following  capital  parody  is  from  the  Washington  "  Evening  Star  " 
of  November  3,  1856  : 

BURIAL  OF  SAM. 
Not  a  State  had  he  got  nor  Electoral  vote, 

And  he  looked  confoundedly  flurried  ; 
Then  wilted  —  dried  up — and  kinder  gin  eout, 
As  we  Hindoos  around  him  hurried. 

We  buried  him  darkly  that  Tuesday  night 

(For  we  fear'd  he'd  not  keep  until  morning). 
By  the  struggling  moonbeams'  misty  light 

And  dark-lanterns  dimly  burning. 

No  useless  coflSn  enclosed  his  breast. 

In  a  sheet  of  the  "  Organ  "  we  wound  him  ; 
Everlasting,  we  guess,  will  be  his  rest 

With  so  sleepy  a  print  around  him. 

Few  and  short  were  the  prayers  we  said. 

But  we  cussed  some,  in  bitter  sorrow. 
As  we  thought  how  through  Ellis  &  Co.  we  'd  been  bled, 

And  the  bets  that  were  due  on  the  morrow. 

We  thought,  as  we  hollowed  his  oozy  bed  • 

In  a  culvert  that  runs  by  "  The  Willows," 
That  Sag-Nichts  and  strangers  would  tread  o'er  his  head. 

And  we  up  the  Salt  River  billows. 

Lightly  they  '11  talk  of  the  spirit  that 's  gone, 

And  o'er  his  spilt  ash-cart  upbraid  him 
With  the  bloodshed  he  caused  and  the  churches  he  burned 

Before  the  Democracy  laid  him. 

Sadly  but  promptly  we  dropped  him  down 

In  the  peculiar  field  of  his  glory. 
We  carved  not  a  line,  we  raised  not  a  stone ; 

For  we  knew  '  t  was  a  mighty  dark  story. 

Sambo.  A  term  often  applied  to  negroes.  It  is  used  more  specifically  to 
mean  the  offspring  of  a  negro  and  mulatto. 

Samp.  (Abenaki  Ind.,  seaump,  nasaump.)  "Roger  WiUiams  describes  na- 
saump  as  "a  kind  of  meale  pottage  unparched;  from  this  the  English 
call  their  samp,  which  is  Indian  corn,  beaten  and  boiled,  and  eaten  hot 
or  cold  with  milke  or  butter,  which  are  mercies  beyond  the  natives' 
plaine  water,  and  which  is  a  dish  exceedingly  wholesome  for  the  English 
bodies."  —  Key  to  the  Indian  Language,  p.  33.  Samp  is  still  much  used 
wherever  Indian  corn  is  raised. 


SAN  379 

Blue  com  is  light  of  digestion,  and  the  English  make  a  kind  of  loblolly  of  it  to 
eat  with  milk,  which  they  call  sampe ;  they  beat  it  in  a  mortar,  and  sifte  the  flower 
out  of  it.  —  Jossdyn's  New  England  Rarities,  1672. 

It  is  ordered  that  the  treasurer  doe  forthwith  provide  tenn  barrells  of  cranburys, 
two  hogslieads  of  speciall  good  sampe,  and  three  thousand  of  codfish,  —  to  be  pre- 
sented to  his  majesty,  as  a  present  from  this  court.  —  Massachusetts  Col.  Records, 
1677,  Vol.  V.  p.  156. 

He  slept  until  the  morning  light  was  seen 

Down  through  the  dome  to  dance  upon  his  brow ; 
Then  Waban  woke  him  to  his  simple  cheer 
Of  the  pure  fount,  nausamp,  and  savory  deer. 

Durfee,  Whatcheer. 

Sanctimoniouslyfied.     This  queer  word  explains  itself. 

I  recollect  an  old  sanctimoniouslyfied  fellow  who  made  his  negroes  whistle  while 
they  were  picking  cherries,  for  fear  they  should  eat  some.  —  Crockett,  Tour  down 
East. 

Sand-Box.  a  primitive  sort  of  spittoon,  consisting  of  a  wooden  box  filled 
with  sand. 

Sand-Cheruy.  (  Cerasus  pumila.)  A  prostrate  or  reclining  shrub  which 
grows  on  the  sand-hills  in  the  West  and  North.  It  bears  a  profusion  of 
fruit,  which  is  black  when  ripe,  with  an  astringent  taste,  about  as  large  as 
the  common  cultivated  red  cherry. 

Sand-Flea,  or  Beach-J^Lea.  (Genus,  Orchestra.  Leach.)  A  small 
crustacean  common  along  the  shores  of  Long  Island  and  other  sandy 
places,  which  digs  holes  wherein  it  conceals  itself,  and  lives  upon  dead 
animal  substances. 

Sand-Hillers.  a  class  of  people  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina.-  They 
are  said  to  be  the  descendants  of  the  poor  whites,  who,  being  deprived  of 
work  by  the  introduction  of  slave  labor,  took  refuge  in  the  pine  woods 
that  cover  the  sandy  hills  of  those  States,  where  they  have  since  lived  in 
a  miserable  condition. 

The  sand-hillers  are  small,  gaunt,  and  cadaverous,  and  their  skin  is  just  the  color 
of  the  sand-hills  they  live  on.  They  are  incapable  of  applying  themselves  steadily 
to  any  labor,  and  their  habits  are  very  much  like  those  of  the  old  Indians.  —  Olm- 
sted's Slave  States,  p.  507. 

Sang.  An  abbreviation  of  ginseng.  It  is  also  used  in  Maryland  and 
Virginia  as  a  verb.  To  go  a  sanging  is  to  be  engaged  in  gathering  gin- 
seng. In  Alleghany  Co.,  Maryland,  is  Sang  Run  near  which  is  a  well- 
known  "  sanging  ground." 

Sang-Hoe.     The  implement  used  in  gathering  ginseng. 

Santa  Fe  Tea.  An  infusion  of  the  leaves  of  the  Alstonia  theceformis,  used 
in  New  Mexico. 


380  S  A  P  —  S  A  V 

Saphead.     a  blockhead ;   a  stupid  fellow.  —  Craven  Dialect.    In  some 
other  parts  of  England,  sapshull  is  used. 
Why  is  a  dandy  like  a  mushroom  1 

Because  he 's  a  regular  saphead, 

His  waist  is  remarkably  slender, 
His  growth  is  exceedingly  rapid, 
And  his  top  is  uncommonly  tender. 

Lit.  World,  Dec.  14,  1850. 

Sapsucker.  a  small  woodpecker  (the  dentrocopus  of  ornithologists),  so 
called  from  a  common  belief  that  it  sucks  the  sap  of  trees. 

Sarves,  for  preserves.     So  pronounced  in  some  parts  of  the  "West. 

We  had  also  [for  dinner]  custard  pies,  and  maple  molasses,  (usually  called  "  them 
'are  molasses,")  and  preserved  apples,  preserved  water-melon-rinds,  and  preserved 
red  peppers  and  tomatoes  —  all  termed,  for  brevity's  sake  (like  words  in  Webster's 
Dictionary),  sarves.  —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  183. 

Sarsaparilla.  The  name  is  applied  to  a  species  of  Aralia  and  other 
plants  used  as  substitutes  for  foreign  sarsaparilla. 

S ass-Tea.    A  decoction  of  sassafras  ;  sassafras-tea.  

In  the  morning  Hoss  Allen  became  dreadful  poorly.  The  matron  of  the  hoase 
boiled  him  sass-tea,  which  the  old  man  said  revived  him  mightily.  —  Robb,  Squatter 
Life,  p.  72. 

Sauce.  (Vulgarly  pronounced  sass.)  Culinary  vegetables  and  roots  eaten 
with  flesh.  —  Webster.  This  word  is  provincial  in  various  parts  of  Eng- 
land in  the  same  sense.  Forby  defines  it  as  "  any  sort  of  vegetable 
eaten  with  flesh-meat."  —  Norfolk  Glossary.  Garden-stuff"  and  garden' 
ware  are  the  usual  terms  in  England.     See  Long  Sauce. 

Roots,  herbs,  vine-fruits,  and  salad-flowers  —  they  dish  up  in  various  ways,  and 
find  them  very  delicious  sauce  to  their  meats,  both  roasted  and  boiled,  fresh  and 
salt.  —  Beverly's  Hist,  of  Virginia. 

"  If  I  should  stay  away  to  tea,"  said  the  Widow  Bedott  to  her  cliildren,  "  don't 
be  a  lettin'  into  the  plum  sass  and  cake  as  you  did  the  other  day."  —  Bedott  Papers, 
p.  88. 

Sault,  pronounced  soo.  (Old  French.)  The  rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  those  connecting  the  Upper  Lakes  retain  the  French  name  ;  as,  the 
SauU  St.  Mary,  etc. 

Sausage-Machine.  A  machine  for  chopping  or  mincing  meat  for  the 
purpose  of  making  sausages. 

Savage  as  a  Meat  Axe.  1.  Exceedingly  savage ;  ferocious.  This  vul- 
gar simile  is  often  used  in  the  Northern  and  Western  States. 

He  came  up  and  looked  at  me  right  plum  in  the  face,  as  savage  as  a  meat  axe;  and 
says  he,  "  Give  us  your  paw."  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  32. 


SAV  381 

2.   Exceedingly  hungry,  ravenous. 

"Why,  you  don't  eat  nothing  !  "  he  exclaimed;  "ridin'  don't  agree  -with  you,  I 
guess  !  Now,  for  my  part,  it  makes  me  as  savage  as  a  meat  axe."  —  Mrs.  Clavers's 
Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  103. 

It  would  be  a  charity  to  give  the  pious  brother  some  such  feed  as  chicken  fixins 
and  doins,  for  he  looks  half-starved  and  as  savage  as  a  meat  axe.  —  Carlton's  New 
Purchase. 

Savagerous.     Savage,  ferocious.     A  low  word.     Southern. 

Well,  Capting,  they  were  mighty  savagerous  after  liquor ;  they  'd  been  fightin'  the 
whiskey  barrel.  —  Porter's  Tales  of  the  South-west. 

I  see  there  was  hell  in  him,  so  I  looked  at  him  sort  o'  savagerous,  and  says  I,  "  Look 
here,  old  hoss,  how  can  you  have  the  face  to  talk  so  1 "  —  Southern  Sketches. 

The  captain  felt  sorter  wolfish,  and  lookin'  at  the  stranger  darned  savagerous, 
said,  "  Who  in  creation  are  you  ?  "  —  Traits  of  American  Humor. 

Savanna.  (W.  Ind.  savana.)  An  open  plain,  or  meadow,  without  wood. 
The  savanna  is  not  a  prairie.  It  is  a  level  tract  of  land,  often  ap- 
proaching the  circular  in  shape,  averaging  one  or  two  feet  lower  than  the 
level  land  about  it.  It  is  supposed  to  be  the  basin  of  a  former  lake  or 
collection  of  water,  which  has  been  filled  up  by  the  accumulation  of  soil 
and  vegetable  matter.  The  savanna  is  perfectly  level,  clothed  in  per- 
petual verdure,  —  except  in  winter,  when  it  is  covered  with  water,  — 
and  abounds  in  a  great  variety  of  flowers.  The  prairie  differs  not  from 
other  land,  except  in  the  absence  of  timber,  which  is  supposed  to  have 
been  destroyed  in  a  former  era  by  fires  or  by  the  aboriginal  inhabitants. 
—  W.  Flagg,  in  the  Mag.  of  Horticulture,  Sept.,  1854. 

In  some  places  lie  plats  of  low  and  very  rich  ground,  well  timbered ;  in  others 
large  spots  of  meadows  and  savannas,  wherein  are  hundreds  of  acres  without  any 
tree  at  all,  but  yield  reeds  and  grass  of  incredible  height.  —  Beverly's  Virginia,  1 705, 
Book  2. 

The  island  of  San  Pio  is  curiously  diversified  with  alternate  patches  of  savannaJi, 
bush,  and  marsh,  and  oflfers  numerous  coverts  for  wild  animals.  —  Squier's  Waikna, 
p.  236. 

The  fresh  savannas  of  the  Sangamon 
Here  rise  in  gentle  swells,  and  the  long  grass 
Is  mixed  with  rustling  hazels. 

Bryant,  The  Painted  Cup. 

To  Save.     To  make  sure,  i.  e.  to  kill  game,  or  an  enemy,  whether  man  or 
beast.     To  get  conveys  the  same  meaning,  both  terms  being  used  by  the 

backwoodsmen  of  the  Far  "West.    The  notorious  Judge  W of  Texas, 

known  through  that  State  as  "  three  legged  Willie,"  once  said  in  a  speech 
at  a  barbacue  (after  his  political  opponent  had  been  apologizing  for  hav- 
ing taken  a  man's  life  in  a  duel)  : 

The  gentleman  need  not  make  such  a  fuss  about  getting  such  a  rascal ;  everybody 
knows  that  I  have  shot  three,  and  two  of  them  I  saved. 


382  SAV— SCA 

Savet,  or  Sabby.  (Corrupted  from  the  Span,  sale,  knows.)  To  know ; 
to  comprehend.  A  word  of  very  extensive  use  wherever  a  Lingua 
Franca  has  been  formed  of  the  Spanish  or  Portuguese  language  in  Asia, 
Africa,  and  America.  It  is  used  by  the  negroes  in  the  West  Indies,  and 
in  some  of  the  Southern  States. 

When  I  read  these  stories,  the  negroes  looked  delighted,  and  said :  "  We  savey 
dat  well,  misses."  —  Carmichael's  West  Indies. 

Saw.    a  joke,  a  trick. 

To  Saw.  To  hoax ;  to  play  a  joke  upon  one.  A  "Western  term.  In  the 
State  of  Maine,  to  saw  means  to  scold. 

Saw-Gummer.     See  Gummer. 

Saw-Log.  Logs  cut  from  trees  into  the  proper  length  for  boards,  before 
being  carried  to  the  mill  to  be  sawed. 

Saw- Whet.  The  popular  name,  in  some  of  the  Northern  States,  for  the 
Little  Owl,  or  Acadian  Owl  of  Audubon  ( Ulula  acadica).  "  It  has  a 
sharp  note  like  the  filing  of  a  saw,  and  another  like  the  tinkling  of  a  bell." 
—  Nat.  Hist,  of  New  Torh. 

Sawyer.  This  may  be  truly  called  an  American  word ;  for  no  country 
without  a  Mississippi  and  Missouri  could  produce  a  sawyer. 

Sawyers  are  formed  by  trees,  which,  growing  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  become  undermined  by  the  current,  and  fall  into  the  stream.  They 
are  swept  along  with  the  branches  partly  above  water,  rising  and  falling 
with  the  waves ;  whence  their  name.  They  are  extremely  dangerous  to 
steamboats,  which  sometimes  run  foul  of  them,  and  are  either  disabled  or 
sunk  to  the  bottom. 

A  little  above  our  location  thar  war  a  bend  in  the  stream,  which  kind  a  turned  the 
drift  t'  other  eend  up,  and  planted  them  about  the  spot  between  our  cabins  —  snags 
and  sawyers  just  thar  wur  dredful  plenty.  —  A  Night  on  the  Missouri. 

Thar  I  war,  said  Dan,  perched  upon  a  sawyer,  bobbin'  up  and  down  in  the  water. 
—  The  Americans  at  Home. 

ScALLAWAG.  A  scamp. ;  a  scapegrace.  A  scallawag  has  been  de- 
fined to  be,  "  like  many  other  wags,  a  compound  of  loafer,  blackguard, 
and  scamp." 

Dr.  Collier  has  been  showing  his  model  artists  here,  and  the  mean  skallewag  left 
without  paying  the  printer.  —  Buffalo  Courier. 

You  good-for-nothin'  young  scallawag,  is  that  the  way  you  take  care  of  that  poor 
dear  boy,  to  let  him  fall  into  the  pond.  —  S.  Slick,  Human  Nature. 

That  scallawag  of  a  fellow  ought  to  be  kicked  out  of  all  decent  society.  —  Western 
Sketches. 


SCA  383 

Scalping.  A  barbarous  custom,  among  Indian  warriors,  of  taking  off  their 
enemies'  scalps  with  the  hair  on.  These  are  preserved  as  trophies  of 
victory.  —  Encycl.  Amer. 

ScAL  PING-KNIFE.  A  knife  used  by  the  Indians  in  taking  off  the  scalp  of 
their  prisoners.  —  Worcester. 

Scalp-lock.  A  long  tufl  of  hair  left  on  the  crown  of  the  head  by  the 
warriors  of  some  Indian  tribes. 

The  Arapahos  do  not  shave  their  heads  as  the  Pawnees  and  Osages  do,  merely 
braiding  the  centre  or  scalp-lock,  and  decorating  it  with  a  gay  ribbon  or  feather  of  the 
war-eagle.  — Ruxton's  Adv.  in  the  Rocky  Mts.  p.  237. 

The  leggins  of  some  of  these  Indians  were  ornamented  with  sccdp-locks  along  the 
outer  seam,  exhibiting  a  dark  history  of  the  wearer's  prowess.  —  Maine  Eeid,  The 
Scalp-Hunters,  p.  102. 

Scare,  or  Skeeb.    A  fright ;  among  animals,  a  stampede. 

In  the  course  of  an  hour  Major  Howard  rode  into  camp  with  his  prisoner,  who 
was  really  half  frightened  to  death.  In  fact,  the  man  afterwards  died  on  the  road ; 
and  those  who  knew  him  best  said  that  he  never  got  over  the  scare.  —  Kendall's  Santa 
F^  Expedition,  Vol.  I.  p.  130. 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  grandeur  of  the  scene  when  a  large  cavallada,  or  drove 
of  horses,  takes  a  scare.  Old,  weather-beaten,  time-worn,  and  broken-down  steeds  — 
horses  that  have  nearly  given  out  from  hard  work  and  old  age  —  will  at  once  be 
transformed  into  wild  and  prancing  colts.  —  Kendall's  Santa  F€  Expedition,  Vol.  I. 
p.  97. 

To  scabe  up.  To  pick  up ;  to  find.  A  word  adopted  from  the  fowler's 
vocabulary. 

A  great  man  ;  a  man  clearly  discerning  his  position,  resolved  to  control  events, 
and  not  allow  the  winds  and  tides  of  circumstance  to  shape  his  course,  —  surrounds 
himself  with  men  of  the  same  clear,  energetic,  decided  character.  He  does  not 
make  the  noodles  and  nobodies  that  he  may  scare  up  anywhere  his  chief  agents.  — 
Putnam's  Mag.  Sept.  1853. 

Next  came  the  bag,  which  Signor  Blitz  turned  inside  out,  patted  it  in  his  hands, 
showed  it  to  the  audience,  held  it  by  every  comer,  slapped  it  against  the  floor,  and 
then  astonished  the  assembly  by  taking  out  of  it  a  dozen  eggs,  which  he  allowed 
would  be  a  very  useful  bag  in  a  family,  in  scaring  up  eggs  for  breakfast.  —  The  States 
(Washington),  1857. 

If  some  financial  Solomon, 
Before  another  set  of  sun. 
Don't  tell  us  what  is  to  be  done 

To  scare  up  cash, 
"We  all  perforce  must  cut  and  run, 

Or  go  to  smash.  —  N.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

SCAEESOME  or  Skeebsome.     Frightful. 

It 's  cruel  skeersome,  about  there.  — Margaret,  p.  275 


384'  SCA  — SCH 

SCAET,  or  Skeert.     Easily  scared  ;  timorous. 

I  got  a  little  scary  and  a  good  deal  mad.     There  was  I  perched  up  on  a  sawyer, 
bobbin'  up  and  down  in  the  water.  —  BoU),  Squatter  Life. 

Aye,  for  a  town-bred  boy  or  a  skeary  woman.     There 's  old  Esther ;  she  has  no 
more  fear  of  a  red-skin  than  of  a  suckling  cub.  —  Cooper,  The  Prairie. 

Schedule.  In  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  the  printed  "  Acts  and  Re- 
solves "  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Schnapps.  (Germ.)     Strong  liquor,  especially  gin. 

School.  This  word  in  the  phrase,  "  a  school  of  fish,"  applied  to  a  large 
number  of  fish  swimming  together,  appears  to  be  derived  from  the  Dutch 
"  een  school  visch."     The  expression  is  also  provincial  in  England. 

A  grave  and  quiet  man  was  he, 

"Who  loved  his  hook  and  rod ; 
So  even  ran  his  line  of  life. 

His  neighbors  thought  it  odd. 

For  science  and  for  books  he  said 

He  never  had  a  wish  ; 
No  school  to  him  was  worth  a  fig. 

Except  a  school  of  fish.  —  Saxe,  The  Cold  Water  Man, 

School-Commissioner.  The  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  have'the  adminis- 
tration and  superintendence  of  public  instruction  in  a  State.  He  is 
usually  elected  as  other  State  ofiicers  are,  although  sometimes,  as  in 
Rhode  Island,  he  is  appointed  by  the  Governor,  by  and  with  the  consent 
of  the  Senate. 

School-Committee.  A  committee  appointed  by  a  town  or  city  to  have 
the  entire  management  of  its  public  schools.  These  committees  usu- 
ally serve  without  compensation. 

School-District.  A  division  of  a  city  or  State  for  establishing  schools. 
The  State  of  New  York  is  divided  into  more  than  ten  thousand  such 
partitions  or  school  districts. 

School-Fund.  A  fund  set  apart,  the  income  of  which  is  by  State  law 
expressly  appropriated  to  the  support  of  public  instruction. 

School-Library.  The  library  of  a  common  school.  In  the  State  of 
New  Yoi'k,  a  portion  of  the  income  of  the  school-fund  is  appropriated 
for  common  school  libraries,  and  the  remainder  by  the  districts  where  the 
schools  are  estabhshed. 

School-Ma'am.  a  school-mistress.  This  term  is  peculiar  to  New  Eng- 
land.    See  McCam  School. 

A  correspondent  of  a  New  York  paper,  writing  from  "Washington, 


SCH  — SCR  385 

thus  complains  of  some  of  the  common  practices  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives : 

Here  tobacco-chewing  is  national,  not  sectional.  Everybody  but  the  President 
chews.  I  went  over  to  the  ladies'  gallery ;  but  I  found  it  still  worse,  as  the  girls  kept 
up  a  continual  chatter,  and  that  on  so  high  a  key  that  I  wonder  the  Speaker  did  not 
clear  the  gallery.  The  particular  set  I  now  refer  to  were  probably  country  school- 
marms,  who  know  a  little  of  everything,  and  meant  to  show  it, 

"We  can  make  a  new  application  of  an  old  story,  as  the  school-marm  said  when 
she  spanked  the  little  boy  with  "  Eobinson  Crusoe."  —  Knickerbocker  Mag.  Feb. 
1857. 

School-Money.  The  money  received  from  towns  or  the  State  for  the 
support  of  common  schools. 

School-Section.  A  section  of  land  set  apart  for  public  schools.  All 
public  lands,  before  being  offered  for  sale,  are  accurately  surveyed  by 
practical  surveyors  in  ranges  of  townships  of  six  miles  square ;  which 
townships  are  subdivided  into  thirty-six  sections  of  one  mile  square,  each 
section  generally  containing  six  hundred  and  forty  acres.  That  the 
benefits  of  education  might  be  extended  to  our  frontier  settlers  and  their 
posterity,  the  sixteenth  section  in  each  township,  or  one  thirty-sixth  part 
of  the  public  lands,  has  been  set  apart  for  the  support  of  schools.  —  Hep, 
of  Com.  of  Gen.  Land  Office,  1849. 

School-Tax.  A  tax  usually  levied  upon  towns  or  districts  for  the  support 
of  its  public  or  common  schools.  This  tax  is  usually  in  addition  to  the 
appropriation  by  the  State  for  the  same  object. 

To  Scoot.     To  walk  fast ;  to  run.      /iu^c^^  J^,^^,^^^^^^^  /i^^a^^/^/^ 

The  fellow  sat  down  on  a  hornet's  nest;  and  if  be  did  n't  run  and  holler,  and  scoot 
through  the  briar  bushes,  and  tear  his  trowsers.  —  Hill's  Yankee  Stories. 

We  were  bound  to  tlie  South  Seas  after  sperm  whales,  but  we  were  eight  months 
gettin'  tliere.  The  captain  he  scooted  round  into  one  port  an'  another — down  to 
Caraccas,  into  Rio,  etc.  —  Atlantic  Monthly,  March,  1 858. 

A  Southern  or  Western  man,  when  he  goes  skewtin  about,  buying  goods  in  busi- 
ness hours,  keeps  his  eye-teeth  skinned.  — Knickerbocker  Mag.,  March,  1856. 

Scow.  (Dutch,  schouw.)  A  large,  flat-bottomed  boat,  generally  used  as  a 
ferry-boat,  or  as  a  lighter  for  loading  and  unloading  vessels  when  they 
cannot  approach  the  wharf.  On  Lake  Ontario  they  are  sometimes  rigged 
like  a  schooner  or  sloop,  with  a  lee-board  or  sliding  keel,  when  they  make 
tolerably  fast  sailers.  The  word  is  used  in  Scotland-  A  mud-scow 
(Dutch,  modder-schouw)  is  a  vessel  of  this  description,  used  in  New  York 
for  cleaning  out  the  docks  ;  a  dredging  machine. 

To  Scrape.    "  To  scrape  cotton,"  means  to  hoe  cotton.     Southern^ 

33 


886^  SCR 

Scratch.  No  great  scratch.  A  vulgar  though  common  phrase,  implying 
not  worth  much  —  no  great  shakes. 

There  are  a  good  many  Joneses  in  Greorgia,  and  I  know  some  myself  that  ain't 
no  great  scratches.  — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  136. 

To  Scratch.  To  scratch  a  man's  name,  in  political  parlance,  is  to  strike 
it  from  the  printed  ticket  of  the  "  regular  nomination." 

We  remember,  many  years  ago,  at  one  of  our  charter  elections,  a  candidate  for 
the  office  of  alderman  had  the  tickets  bearing  his  name  printed  with  a  peculiar  mark 
When  the  poll  was  closed,  that  particular  ticket  was  known  to  be  full  one  hundred 
ahead.  The  would-be  alderman,  in  the  gladness  of  his  heart,  invited  his  friends  to 
his  house,  where  he  had  spread  refreshments.  Just  as  he  was  returning  thanks  for 
his  election,  the  official  returns  were  brought  in,  from  which  it  appeared  that  though 
all  the  other  candidates  upon  the  ticket  were  successful,  so  many  had  scratched  the 
name  of  the  alderman,  that  he  was  defeated  by  more  than  fifty  votes.  —  N.  Y.  Com. 
Advertiser. 

Scratch  Ticket,  properly  scratched  ticket.  An  election  ticket  with  one 
or  more  names  of  candidates  erased.     See  Split  Ticket. 

Scrawl.  In  New  England,  a  ragged,  broken  branch  of  a  tree,  or  other 
brushwood  ;  brush.  —  Webster. 

Scrawny.  Bony,  bare-boned,  low  in  flesh,  scraggy.  A  corrupt  pronunci- 
ation of  the  word  scranny,  which  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in  England. 
Southern. 

If  my  memory  serves  me.  Elder  Sniffles  is  rather  a  tall,  scrawny  man,  with  eyes 
that  look  like  a  couple  of  peeled  onions,  and  kind  o'  squintin'  too.  — Widow  Bedott 
Papers,  p.  103. 

All  the  spare  curses  I  accumulate  I  dedicate  to  these  white-livered,  hatchet-faced, 
thin-blooded,  scrawny  reformers,  who  prescribe  saw-dust  puddings  and  plank  beds, 
and  brief  sleep,  and  early  walks,  and  short  commons  for  the  rising  generation.  — 
Timothy  Titcomb's  Letters. 

Screamer.  A  bouncing  fellow  or  girl.  This,  like  the  word  roarer,  is  one 
of  the  many  terms  transferred  from  animals  to  men  by  the  hunters  of  the 
West. 

If  he 's  a  specimen  of  the  Choctaws  that  live  in  these  parts,  they  are  screamers.  — 
Thorpe's  Backwoods. 

Mary  is  a  screamer  of  a  girl ;  I  'd  rather  have  her  than  all  the  rest.  —  Mrs.  Cla- 
vers's  Western  Clearings. 

"  Have  you  got  my  cabin  chalked  do^vn  ?  "  he  inquired. 
"  Yes,"  answered  the  artist,  "  and  you  too." 

"  Good,  by  thunder ! "  said  the  squatter.     "  When  you  show  me  to  them  English 
fellers,  just  tell  'em  I'm  a  Mississippi  screamer.     I  can  hoe  more  corn  in  a  day  than 
any  Yankee  machine  ever  invented  ;  and  when  I  hit  any  thing,  from  bullock  down 
to  human  natur',  they  ginerally  think  lightnin'  is  comin'."  — St.  Louis  Reveille. 
The  folks  are  all  waiting  to  see  the  fast  steamer 
That 's  coming  from  Albany  down  to  this  pier ; 


SCR  387 

Ah,  here  she  is  now ;  you,  sir,  ain't  she  a  screamer  ? 
In  New  York,  the  swiftest  boats  always  land  here. 

A  Glance  at  New  York. 

Screw.  1.  One  who  squeezes  all  he  can  out  of  those  with  whom  he  has 
any  dealings  ;  an  extortioner ;  miser.     Colloquial  here  as  in  England. 

2.  In  some  American  colleges,  an  excessive,  unnecessarily  minute,  and 
annoying  examination  of  a  student  by  an  instructor,  is  called  a  screw. 
The  instructor  is  often  designated  by  the  same  name.  —  HalVs  College 
Words. 

One  must  experience  the  stammering  and  stuttering,  the  unending  doubtings  and 
guessings,  to  understand  fully  the  power  of  a  mathematical  screw.  —  Harvard  Regis- 
ter, p.  378. 

The  consequence  was,  a  patient  submission  to  the  screw,  and  a  loss  of  college 
honors  and  patronage. — A  Tour  through  College.  Boston,  1832. 

To  Screw.  To  press  with  excessive  and  unnecessarily  minute  examina- 
tion. —  HalVs   College  Words. 

Who  would  let  a  tutor  knave 
Screw  him  like  a  Guinea  slave !  —  RebeUiad,  p.  53. 
He  was  a  wise  man,  and  a  good  man  too. 
And  robed  himself  in  green  whene'er  he  came  to  screw. 

Our  Chronicle  of  '26. 

Screws.  To  put  the  screws  on  ;  to  turn  the  screws.  To  press,  and  figur- 
atively to  extort,  to  enforce  payment  in  money  transactions ;  to  force  a 
debtor,  by  any  compulsory  means,  to  pay.  The  allusion  is  to  the  ancient 
mode  of  torture  by  thumb-screws. 

As  soon  as  the  banks  have  put  out  a  pretty  good  line  of  call  loans,  and  the  brok- 
ers have  involved  themselves  deeply  in  fancy  stock  transactions  on  time,  the  screws 
will  be  suddenly  turned,  and  we  shall  find  a  general  desire  to  realize  among  those 
who  axe  now  so  anxious  to  buy.  —  N.  Y.  Herald. 

The  New  York  Times,  in  speaking  of  a  contraction  by  the  banks,  says  : 
Such  turns  of  the  screws  as  we  have  had  for  the  last  three  weeks,  if  continued, 
would  bring  almost  every  mercantile  house  in  New  York  to  wreck.  —  Sept.  1 5, 
1857. 

Love  strains  the  heart-strings  of  the  human  race,  and  not  unfrequently  puts  the 
screws  on  so  hard  as  to  snap  them  asunder,  and  leave  every  moral  and  physical  in- 
strument as  completely  out  of  tune  as  a  corn-stalk  fiddle  in  the  hands  of  a  plough- 
boy.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  302. 

Scrimp,  or  Skrimp.     1.   Short;  scanty.  —  Webster. 

2.   A  pinching  miser ;  a  niggard  r  a  close-fisted  person.  —  Webster. 
The  word,  in  both  senses,  is  colloquial  in  the  North  of  England  and  in 
the  United  States. 

To  Scrimp.     To  contract ;  to  shorten ;  to  make  too  small  or  short ;  to 


888  SCR  — SCU 

limit  or  straiten  ;  as,  "  to  scrimp  the  pattern  of  a  coat."     Colloquial  in 
England  and  in  the  United  States. 

Scrimping.     Scanty ;  close ;  parsimonious.     Also  used  adverbially. 

Bethier  Nobles  knows  how  every  lady  in  town  carries  on  her  kitchen  concerns,  — 
how  scrimping  they  live,  and  all  that.  — Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  333. 

ScRODS.  (Shreds  ?)  Small  pieces  of  fish,  or  small  fish  for  boiling.  New 
England. 

Peter  Gott,  in  addition  to  the  money  he  had  saved,  had  a  pile  of  nice  scrods,  and 
as  many  salted  fish  for  winter  as  the  family  needed.  —  The  Cape  Ann  Fisherman. 

To  ScROUGE.  To  crowd ;  to  squeeze.  A  word  provincial  in  England 
and  in  this  country.  It  is  used  in  the  Southern  States,  and  among  chil- 
dren at  the  North. 

The  ladies  were  obliged  to  stand  up  and  be  scrouged  until  chairs  could  be  brought. 
—  Drama  in  Poherville. 

After  hard  scrouging  each  way  some  hundred  yards,  we  came  together  and  held  a 
council. —  Carlton,  New  Purchase,  Vol.  II.  p.  59. 

Them  boys  that 's  a  scrouging  each  other  will  find  plenty  of  room  this  way.  — 
Peter  Cram,  Knick.  Mag. 

And  as  the  North  has  took  to  brustlin'. 
At  being  scrouged  from  off  the  roost, 
I  '11  tell  ye  what  '11  save  all  tusslin'. 
And  give  our  side  a  handsome  boost. 

Biglow  Papers,  p,  92. 

SCROUGER.     A  bouncing  fellow  or  girl.     A  Western  vulgarism. 

Tom  the  engineer  was  a  roaring,  tearing,  bar  State  scrouger  —  could  chaw  up 
any  specimen  of  the  human  race,  any  quantity  of  tobacco,  and  drink  steam  without 
flinching.  —  Robb,  Squatter  Lije. 

Some  of  the  families  in  them  diggins  had  about  twenty  in  number ;  and  the  gals 
among  them  warn't  any  of  your  pigeon  critters,  that  a  fellow  dassent  tech  for  fear 
of  spilin'  em,  but  real  scrougers ;  any  of  'em  could  lick  a  bar  easy.  —  Ibid. 

Congo  is  a  scrouger ;  he's  up  a  gum,  and  no  bug-eater,  I  tell  you;  he  carries  a 
broad  row,  weeds  out  every  thing — hoes  de  corn  and  digs  de  taters.  —  Southern 
Sketches,-  p.  99. 

Scrub  Oak.     The  popular  name  of  several  dwarfish  species  of  oak. 

Wo  left  the  buifalo  camp  and  had  a  toilsome  and  harassing  march  of  two  hours 
over  ridges  of  hills  covered  with  a  ragged,  meagre  forest  of  scrub-oaks,  and  broken 
by  deep  gullies.  — Irving,  Tour  on  the  Prairies,  p.  135.  , 

Scrumptious.  Nice  ;  particular ;  fastidious  ;  excellent.  Probably  a  cor- 
ruption of  scrupulous.     A  vulgarism. 

I  don't  want  to  be  scrumptious,  judge ;  but  I  do  want  to  be  a  man.  —  Margaret, 
p.  304. 

Scup.     1.    (Abenaki  Ind.,  scuppauog.)      A  small   fish   abounding  in  the 


SCU— SEA  389 

waters  of  New  York  and  New  England.     In  Rhode  Island  they  are 
called  scup  ;  in  New  York,  paugies  or  porgies.     See  Porgy. 
2.    (Dutch,  schop.)     A  swing.    A  New  York  word. 

To  Scup.     (Dutch,  sckoppen.)     To  swing.     Common  in  New  York. 

SCUPPERNONG  Grape.  By  most  authors  this  is  believed  to  be  a  variety 
of  the  Vitis  vulpina  of  Linnaeus,  or  Southern  Fox  Grape.  It  has  char- 
acters of  its  own,  however,  and  is  held  to  be  distinct  by  Michaux  and 
Elliot,  as  Vitis  rotundifolia,  and  by  Rafinesque  as  Vitis  muscadina.  It 
is  indigenous  on  the  Scuppernong  river  and  lake  in  North  Carolina,  and 
yields  a  highly  esteemed  wine. 

To  Scurry.  To  scour,  to  scud,  to  run  in  haste.  This  word  is  colloquial 
in  England  and  America,  and  is  a  variation  of  the  verb  shirr  of  the 
dictionaries. 

Our  friend  Kendall,  of  the  Picayune,  was,  when  last  heard  from,  scurrying  over 
the  German  portions  of  the  Eurojiean  continent.  —  New  York  Com.  Adv. 

Scuss,  for  scarce.     So  pronounced  by  the  backwoodsmen  of  the  West. 

The  unfortunate  traveller  urged  in  vain  [for  food  for  his  horse].     Hay  was  scuss, 
and  potatoes  were  scusser.  —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Western  Clearings. 

Sea-Bass.  (^Centopristes  nigricans.)  A  fish  that  abounds  in  the  Atlantic 
on  banks  and  off  steep  bars  near  the  channels,  rarely  near  the  shore.  As 
an  article  of  food,  it  is  reckoned  among  the  best  of  the  fishes  of  the 
coast. 

Sea-Devil.     See  Devil-Fish. 

Sea-Island  Cotton.  A  kind  of  cotton  celebrated  for  the  fineness  and 
length  of  its  fibre,  and  raised  only  on  the  sea  coast  or  islands  of  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina.     Comp.   Upland  Cotton. 

Sea-Pike.    See  Bill-Fish. 

Sea-Robin.  {Prionotus  lineatus.)  A  small  salt-water  fish,  which  keeps 
near  or  upon  the  bottom,  using  its  pectoral  processes  as  organs  of  pro- 
gression. In  swimming  or  resting,  the  broad  pectoral  fins  are  generally 
spread  out  horizontally  to  their  fullest  extent,  presenting  a  very  beautiful 
and  striking  appearance,  and  closely  resembling  the  wings  of  a  butterfly. 
It  hence  receives  its  name  of  Flying-Fish.  From  the  croaking  or  grunt- 
ing noise  it  makes  when  caught,  it, is  sometimes  called  Pig-Fish. 

Sea-side  Grape.     The  Cocoloba  urifera,  so  called  in  the  West  Indies. 

To  Seal.  In  Mormon  phraseology,  all  wives  taken  after  the  first  are 
called  spiritual  wives,  and  are  said  to  be  sealed  to  the  husband. 

33  * 


390  SEA  » 

The  extra  wives  of  the  Mormons  are  called  by  some  of  them  "spirituals,"  by 
others  sealed  ones,  whUe  our  landlady  calls  them  "  fixins."  —  Ferris,  the  Mormons  at 
Home,  p.  114. 

People,  according  to  Mormon  technology,  are  married  for  time,  but  sealed  for 
eternity.  —  Hyde's  Mortnonism,  p.  84. 

But  crowds  on  crowds,  as  was  revealed 
To  Brigham,  were  to  Brigham  sealed; 
Until,  for  want  of  room,  't  is  said, 
A  bevy  held  each  harem  bed  ! 
The  beautiful  he  sealed  to  be 

Partakers  of  his  temporal  rest; 
While  suppliants  "  for  eternity," 

Content  to  be  hereafter  blest, 
"Were  sealed  to  be  his  "  spirit "  spouses. 

And  who  —  the  unbelieving  say  — 

Lived  happier  far  with  him  than  they 
Who  dwelt  in  his  terrestrial  houses  ! 

The  Mormoniad. 

Sealer.  In  New  England,  an  officer  appointed  by  the  town  or  other 
proper  authority,  to  examine  and  try  weights  and  measures,  and  set  a 
stamp  on  such  as  are  according  to  the  standards  established  by  the  State ; 
also  an  officer  who  inspects  leather,  and  stamps  such  as  is  good.  These  are 
called  sealers  of  weights  and  measures,  and  sealers  of  leather.  —  Webster. 

Sealing.  The  ceremony,  among  the  Mormons,  of  taking  a  "  spiritual " 
wife. 

These  left-hand  marriages  are  called  sealings ;  the  woman  is  said  to  be  "  sealed  " 
to  the  man.  —  Ferris,  The  Mormons  at  Home,  p.  114. 

Seamster.    a  seamstress. 

Searcher.  An  instrument  resembling  an  auger,  used  in  the  inspection 
of  butter,  to  ascertain  the  quality  of  that  contained  in  firkins.  New 
England. 

Season.     A  common  term  at  the  South  for  a  shower  of  rain  or  period  of 

damp  weather  suitable  for  setting  out  tobacco  and  other  plants. 

This  season  has  come  up  mighty  sudden.  I  should  n't  wonder  if  it  rained  all 
night.  —  Ida  May. 

Seawan,  or  Seawant.  An  Indian  word  meaning  the  same  as  wampum, 
formerly  in  use  among  the  early  colonists  of  New  York. 

The  speaking  now  ceased,  and  they  gave  each  of  us  ten  fathoms  of  seewan,  which 

is  their  money,  each  fathom  being  worth  four  guilders.  — De  Vries,  New  Netherlands. 

Keift  could  not  vie  with  Solomon  as  to  the  precious  metals,  but  he  determined,  as 

an  equivalent,  to  flood  the  streets  of  New  Amsterdam  with  Indian  money 

called  seawant  or  wampum.  — Knickerbocker's  New  York. 
A  quantity  of  Dutch  commodities  was  purchased  on  this  occasion  by  the  New 


SEC  391 

Plymouth  people ;  especially  seawan  or  wampum,  which  the  English  found  to  be 
afterwards  very  beneficial  in  their  trade  with  the  natives. —  0'  Ccdlaghan,  Hist,  of 
New  Neikerlands,  p.  108. 

Secessionists.  The  party  in  the  South  which  would  di.ssolve  the  Union, 
or  go  out  of  it  immediately,  without  the  cooperation  of  other  States. 
Another  party,  calling  themselves  "  Cooperationists,"  would  only  dissolve 
it  when  other  States  had  joined  them. 

Section.  1.  A  distinct  part  of  a  city,  town,  country,  or  people ;  a  pai"t  of 
a  territory  separated  by  geographical  lines,  or  of  a  people  considered  as 
distinct.  Thus  we  say,  the  Northern  and  Eastern  section  of  the  United 
States,  the  Middle  section,  the  Southern  or  Western  section.  —  Webster. 

2.  The  newly  surveyed  government  lands  at  the  West  are  laid  out  or 
divided  into  squares  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres,  which  are  called  sec- 
tions. These  are  again  divided  into  four  parts  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  each,  called  quarter-sections. 

Sectional.  Relating  to  a  section,  having  regard  to  the  interests  of  a 
section,  i.  e.  a  division  or  part,  of  the  country,  as  the  North,  South,  East, 
or  West.  The  word  is  often  thus  used  by  political  speakers  and  writers 
in  contradistinction  to  national,  which  see. 

All  sectional  interests,  or  party  feelings,  it  is  hoped,  will  hereafter  yield  to  schemes 
of  ambition.  — Judge  Story. 

To  that  central  attraction  I  have  been  delighted  to  find  the  thoughts,  the  aiFec- 
tions,  the  memories  of  the  people,  in  whatever  part  of  the  country  —  from  the  ocean 
to  the  prairies  of  the  West,  from  the  land  of  granite  and  ice  to  the  land  of  the  pal- 
metto and  the  magnolia  —  instinctively  turn.  They  have  their  sectional  loves  and 
hatreds,  but  before  the  dear  name  of  Washington  they  are  absorbed  and  forgotten.  — 
Speech  of  Ron.  E.  Everett,  July  5,  1858. 

Mr.  Miles,  of  South  Carolina,  said  he  was  that  bugbear  a  sectional  man.  He 
represented  in  part  the  South,  which,  being  the  weaker  party,  had  to  unite  in  order 
to  protect  herself,  and  was  therefore  sectional.  —  Debate  in  H.  of  Reps.  Jan.  26,  1859. 

Sectionalism.  The  having  regard  to  the  interests  of  a  section  of  the 
country,  rather  than  of  the  nation  at  large. 

On  the  5th  of  July,  1838,  the  patriotism  and  intellect  of  Massachusetts  was  repre- 
sented in  a  striking  contrast  with  the  littleness  and  sectionalism  which  now  rules  the 
old  Bay  State.  In  New  York,  the  profound  scholar  and  universal  statesman,  Caleb 
Gushing,  appeared  before  the  Old  Tammany  Society  ;  in  Boston,  Rufus  Choate,  the 
unrivalled  orator  and  inspired  genius,  delivered  an  oration,  which,  like  all  of  his 
efforts,  was  original,  learned,  and  unapproachable ;  and  in  the  same  city  Edward 
Everett,  who,  perhaps,  above  all  living  Americans,  has  earned  the  triple  laureate  of 
orator,  statesman,  and  scholar,  and  adds  to  these  the  noble  designation  of  the 
national  philanthropist,  graced  the  two  celebrations  with  his  presence,  and  uttered 
words  of  national  patriotism  which  must  warm  the  heart  of  every  true  American 
citizen. —  Newark  Journal,  July,  1858. 


392  SEC— SEE 

To  Sectionize.  To  divide  or  lay  off  into  sections,  especially  the  public 
lands,  which  is  done  before  they  are  offered  for  sale.     Western. 

So  much  of  the  vacant  lands  of  the  republic  shall  be  surveyed  and  sectionized,  as 
will  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  all  claims.  — Laws  of  Texas,  Nov.  1828. 

To  See  the  Elephant  is  a  South-western  phrase,  and  means,  generally, 
to  undergo  any  disappointment  of  high-raised  expectations.  It  is  in  fact 
nearly  or  quite  synonymous  with  the  ancient  phrase  "  go  out  for  wool  and 
come  back  shorn."  For  instance,  men  who  volunteered  for  the  Mexican 
war,  expecting  to  reap  lots  of  glory  and  enjoyment,  but  who  instead  found 
only  sickness,  fatigue,  privations,  and  suffering,  were  said  to  have  "  seen 
the  elephant."  Afterwards  those  who  went  to  California  with  golden  ex- 
pectations, and  returned  disappointed,  were  said  to  have  "  seen  the  ele- 
phant." The  poor  creatures  who  were  induced  to  shai'e  the  fortunes 
of  the  fillibuster  "Walker  had  an  opportunity  of  viewing  a  quadruped 
of  the  largest  stature. 

Mr.  Kendall,  in  his  "  Narrative  of  the  Texan  Santa  Fe  Expedition," 
tells  some  amusing  anecdotes  of  " seeing  the  elephant"  and  is  the  earliest 
writer  who  mentions  the  expression,  which  he  adds  is  very  common  in 
Texas,  and  which  he  had  never  heard  until  he  entered  the  Cross  Timbers. 
This  was  in  the  year  1841. 

The  meaning  of  the  expression  I  will  explain.  When  a  man  is  disappointed  in 
any  tiling  he  undertakes,  when  he  has  seen  enough,  when  he  gets  tired  and  sick  of 
any  job  he  may  have  set  himself  about,  he  has  "seen  the  elephant."  We  had  been 
buffeting  about  during  the  day,  cutting  away  trees,  crossing  deep  ravines  and  gullies, 
and  turning  and  twisting  some  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to  gain  five  —  we  had  finally 
to  encamp  by  a  mud-hole  of  miserable  water,  and  the  spies  had  been  unable  to  find 
any  beyond.  This  combination  of  ills  induced  the  old  hunter  to  remark,  "  I've 
seen  the  elephant ; "  and  upon  the  same  principle  I  will  here  state  that  by  this  time 
I  had  obtained  something  more  than  a  glimpse  of  the  animal  myself.  —  Vol.  I.  p 
109. 

A  man  brought  before  the  Recorder  of  New  Orleans,  charged  Avith 
having  been  found  drunk  the  previous  night,  after  appealing  to  the  court, 
closed  with  the  following  remarks  : 

"  Spare  my  feelings.  Squire,  and  don't  ask  me  to  tell  any  more.  Here  I  am  in 
town  without  a  rock  in  my  pocket,  without  a  skirt  to  my  coat  or  crown  to  my  hat ; 
but.  Squire,  I'll  say  no  more,  1  've  seen  the  elephant."  The  llecorder  let  him  off  on 
condition  that  he  would  leave  town.  —  Pickings  from  the  Picayune. 

Although  the  merchants  from  the  South  and  West  may  buy  goods  in  Philadelphia, 
all  find  their  way  to  New  York  to  spend  their  pocket-money,  buy  brass  watches  at 
the  mock  auctions,  and  see  the  elephant  generally.  —  Phil.  Cor.  of  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Seed-Tick.  A  minute  species  of  Acarus,  which  burrows  in  the  skin  and 
produces  an  intolerable  itching.  Some  consider  it  to  be  the  young  of  the 
dog  or  sheep  tick. 


SEE  — SEN  393 

Seen,  for  saw.  Ex.  "  I  seen  him  do  it."  This  corruption  is  common  in 
various  parts  of  the  country. 

Peter  Cram's  fits  is  aAvful,  and  go  ahead  of  anj  thing  we  ever  seen.  —  Knickerbocker 
Mag.  Vol.  XVII. 

She  is  more  moral  than  a  preacher, 

More  dignifieder  than  a  queen  ; 
No  mockin'  bird  can  ever  reach  her, 
In  singin',  that  I  ever  seen.  —  Evening  Post. 

To  Seep.  To  run  through  fine  pores  or  interstices,  as  the  juice  of  fruits 
strained  through  a  sieve  or  cloth. 

Seept.  Seepy  land  is  land  under  cultivation  that  is  not  well  drained. 
Maryland  and  Virginia. 

Selectman.  A  magistrate  annually  elected  by  the  freemen  of  a  town  or 
township  in  New  England,  to  superintend  and  manage  the  affairs  and 
government  of  the  town.  The  number  is  commonly  from  tliree  to  five.  — 
Worcester. 

Seller's  Option.  This  gives  the  seller  the  option  to  deliver  any  time 
within  the  time  of  his  contract,  or  at  its  maturity,  and  the  buyer  is 
required  to  take  it  when  offered.  The  buyer  pays  interest  up  to  deliv- 
ery. Sales  at  seller's  option  are  generally  a  fraction  below  the  current 
cash  price.  The  speculator  who  sells  stocks  on  his  own  or  the  buyer's 
option  draws  interest  on  his  contract  for  the  date  until  it  closed. — 
Hunt's  Merchant's  Mag.  Vol.  XXXVII. 

Semi-occasionallt.  a  cant  phrase  of  recent  introduction,  meaning 
once  in  a  while. 

I  went  to  the  American  Legation  and  got  my  friend  Kane,  the  attache,  to  call 
with  me  upon  Jack  Cathcart,  wlio  was  supposed  to  be  diligently  emplo3-ed  in  mak- 
ing himself  a  scientific  physician,  but,  in  point  of  fact,  walking  the  hospital  but 
setni-occasionally,  and  seeing  life  in  Paris  very  constantly,  especially  that  part  of  it 
which  is  to  be  seen  by  gas  or  lamp-light.  —  Putnam's  Monthly,  May,  1854. 

Chewing  tobacco  not  only  infuses  a  deadly  poison  into  your  blood,  but  leads  you 
on  to  an  inclination  for  occasional  dissipation  —  and  from  that  to  semi-occasional  in- 
toxication. —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  III.  p.  90. 

Senate.  In  the  United  States,  senate  denotes  the  higher  branch  or  house 
of  a  legislature.  Such  is  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  or  upper 
house  of  the  Congress ;  and  in  most  of  the  States,  the  higher  and  least 
numerous  branch  of  the  legislature,  is  called  the  Senate.  In  the  United 
States  the  Senate  is  an  elective  body.  —  Webster. 

Senatorial.  Entitled  to  elect  a  senator;  as,  "  a  senatorial  district."  — 
Webster. 


394  SEN  — SES 

Sence,  for  since.     Common  among  the  uneducated. 
Ere  Adam's  fall, 
He  built  stone  wall ; 
But  ever  sence 
He  make  brush  fence.  —  Old  Virginia  Song. 

To  Sense.     To  comprehend ;  as,  "  Do  you  sense  that  ?  "     New  England. 

Serape.  (Span.)  A  Mexican  blanket,  with  an  opening  in  the  middle  for 
the  head.  They  are  woven  by  hand,  of  gay  colors,  and  are  only  worn 
by  the  men  in  cool  weather,  instead  of  an  overcoat. 

The  Indians  were  mounted  on  mules,  wrapped  in  serapes,  or  Mexican  blankets, 
and  wore  head-dresses,  beads,  and  other  Indian  ornaments.  —  Capt.  Whipple's  Ex- 
plorations, p.  34. 

We  wrapped  ourselves  in  blankets  or  overcoats,  while  our  escort,  who  put  on  their 
gaudy  serapes,  made  a  very  picturesque  appearance.  —  Bartlett's  Personal  Narrative, 
Vol.  II.  p.  500. 

I  now  turned  my  back  on  the  last  settlement,  .  .  .  and  knew  that  I  had  seen  the 
last  of  civilized  man  under  the  garb  of  a  Mexican  serape.  —  Ruxton's  Adventures, 
p.  207. 

Serious.  Particularly  attentive  to  religious  concerns  or  one's  own  relig- 
ious state.  —  Webster. 

Serious  has  [in  New  England]  the  cant  acceptation  of  religious.  —  Kendall's 
Travels. 

Servant.  A  term  often  used  synonymously  with  "  slave  "  at  the  South, 
as  it  is  in  the  English  Bible. 

Still  I  confess  (for  I  will  put  do^vn  nothing  that  history  will  not  confirm)  that  cru- 
elties are  sometimes  exercised  by  the  master  upon  the  slave.  Considering  the  num- 
ber of  masters  and  servants  in  this  latitude,  I  cannot  say  that  is  often  the  case  — in 
truth  it  is  very  seldom  the  case.  —  A  Voice  from  the  South,  p.  32. 

To  Serve  up.     To  expose  to  ridicule ;  to  expose. 

Service-Berry.  (Amelanchier  canadensis.)  A  wild  fruit  common  to  the 
British  provinces  in  America  and  the  Northern  States,  described  by  Sir 
George  Simpson  as  "  a  sort  of  cross  between  the  cranberry  and  the 
black  currant."  It  is  a  good  article  of  food,  and  is  sometimes  mixed  with 
pemmican.     The  plant  is  also  called  Shad-bush. 

Among  the  usual  fruit-bearing  shrubs  and  bushes,  I  here  notice  the  service-hern/.  — 
Scenes  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  114. 

Near  the  Del  Norte  grows  plentifully  a  shrub  which  produces  a  fruit  called  by  the 
mountaineers  service-berry,  of  a  dark  blue,  the  size  of  a  small  grape,  and  of  pleasant 
flavor.  —  Ruxton's  Mexico,  p.  204. 

Sessions,  in  some  of  the  States,  is  particularly  used  for  a  court  of  justices, 


SET  — SHA  395 

held  for  granting  licenses  to  innkeepers  or  tavemers,  for  laying  out  new 
highways  or  altering  old  ones,  and  the  like.  —  Webster. 

Set.  Fixed  in  opinion ;  determined ;  firm ;  obstinate ;  as,  "  a  man  set  in 
his  opinions  or  way."  —  Webster. 

To  Set.  To  fix ;  to  cause  to  stop  ;  to  obstruct;  as,  "  to  set  a  coach  in  the 
mire  ; "  "  the  wagon  or  team  was  set  at  the  hill."  In  some  of  the  States 
stall  is  used  in  a  hke  sense.  —  Webster. 

Setting-Pole.  A  pole  shod  with  iron,  used  for  propelling  vessels  or 
boats  up  rivers,  in  shoal  water. 

To  Settle.  To  be  ordained  or  installed  over  a  parish,  church,  or  congre- 
gation. "  A.  B.  was  invited  to  settle  in  the  first  society  at  New  Haven." 
"  N.  D.  settled  in  the  ministry  very  young."  —  Webster. 

Seven  Up.  The  "Western  name  for  a  game  of  cards  commonly  called  All 
Fours. 

Seated,  Indian  fashion,  round  the  fires,  with  a  blanket  spread  before  them,  groups 
are  seen  with  their  cards,  playing  at  euker,  poker,  and  seven-up,  the  regular  moun- 
tain games.  —  Riixton's  Adventures,  p.  236. 

We  found  the  storekeeper  sitting  on  an  empty  keg  at  a  rickety  table,  playing 
seven-up  for  the  liquor  for  one  of  liis  customers.  —  Borthwick's  California,  p.  115. 

Simon  and  Bill  were  in  a  fence  comer  very  earnestly  engaged  at  seven-up.  —  Simon 
Suggs. 

Severals,  for  several,  is  used  in  Pennsylvania.  "  How  many  hats  have 
you ?  "     "I  used  to  have  severals,  but  now  have  got  only  one." 

Shack.  A  vagabond.  Ex.  "  He  's  a  poor  shack  of  a  fellow."  It  is  used 
in  some  parts  of  England  and  in  New  England. 

All  creation  knows  Nab  Hincken  ain't  nobody.  Why,  her  father  was  a  poor 
drunken  shack,  and  her  mother  took  in  washin'.  — Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  34. 

I  don't  believe  Bill  would  have  turned  out  such  a  miserable  shack,  if  he  'd  a  decent 
woman  for  a  wife.  —  New  England  Tales. 

Shacklt.     Shaky  ;  rickety  ;  as,  "  What  a  shackly  old  carriage  ! "  ' 

The  words  of  the  poet  might  answer  for  me  on  a  pinch,  always  excepting  the 
general  fly-offs  and  moral  unhitches  incident  to  poor  shackly  mortality.  —  Dow's 
Sermons,  Vol.  III. 

Shad-Bush.  A  plant  so  called  from  its  flowering  about  the  time  that  shad 
ascend  the  rivers  in  early  spring.  Its  delicate  sprays,  covered  with  white 
blossoms  before  the  trees  are  yet  in  leaf,  have  a  singularly  beautiful  ap- 
pearance in  the  woods.     See  Seroice-Berry. 

Within  the  woods     .     .     . 

tlie  shad-bush,  white  with  flowers. 

Brightened  the  glens  ;  the  new-leaved  butternut 


396  SHA 

And  quivering  poplar  to  the  roving  breeze 
Gave  a  balsamic  fragrance. 

Bryant,  The  Old  Man's  Council. 

Shad-Bellt  Coat.  One  which  slopes  gradually  from  the  front  to  the 
tails,  and  has  no  angle.  Drab  coats  of  this  shape  are  worn  by  Quakers, 
who  are  hence  sometimes  called  shad-bellies. 

Shade-Tree.     A  tree  planted  for  the  sake  of  the  shade  which  it  affords. 

Shag-Bark.  (  Carya  alba.)  A  tall  and  handsome  species  of  hickory,  the 
old  trunks  of  which  are  very  rough  barked.  The  wood  is  very  valuable 
as  timber  and  for  fuel ;  and  the  fruit  furnishes  the  principal  hickory-nuts 
of  the  market.     It  is  also  called  Shell-bark.  — -  Gray. 

To  Shake  a  Stick  at.  A  ridiculous  phrase  very  often  heard  in  low 
language.  When  a  man  is  puzzled  to  give  one  an  idea  of  a  very  great 
number,  he  calls  it  "more  than  you  can  shake  a  stick  at." 

New  York  is  an  evcrlastin'  great  concern,  and,  as  you  may  well  suppose,  there 's 
about  as  many  people  in  it  as  you  could  sliake  a  stick  at.  —  Maj.  Downing,  May-day 
in  New  York. 

I  'vc  been  licked  fifty  times,  and  got  moi-c  black  eyes  and  bloody  noses  than  you 

could  sJiake  a  stick  at,  for  the  purity  of  our  illegal  rights.  — J.  C.  Neal,  Peter  Brush. 

We  got  a  little  dry  or  so,  and  wanted  a  horn ;  but  this  was  a  temperance  house, 

and  there  was  nothing  to  treat  a  friend  to  that  was  worth  shaking  a  stick  at.  — 

Crockett's  Tour,  p.  87. 

Shakes.  1.  Fever  and  ague,  intermittent  fever,  is  sometimes  called  "  the 
shakes." 

2.  An  earthquake. 
The  springs  fail  once  in  a  while  since  the  shakes  of  1812.  — Western  Gazetteer. 

Shaky.     Wavering,  uncertain. 

A  recent  estimate  is  wrong  as  to  the  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  delegations. 
At  least  four  of  the  latter  are  adverse,  and  several  others  shaky,  with  a  leaning  in 
the  same  direction.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Jan.  21,  1858. 

Shanghai.  A  tall  dandy.  So  called  in  allusion  to  the  long-legged  fowk 
from  Shanghai,  in  China,  which  were  all  the  rage  a  few  years  ago. 

I  became  wildly  extravagant,  indulged  in  broadcloth  and  fine  linen,  in  kid  gloves 
and  a  stove-pipe  hat,  a  cane  and  French  calf  boots;  used  cologne,  hair  oil,  and 
scented  my  handkerchief  with  "jockey-club;"  wore  a  I'ing,  was  a  connoisseur  in 
cigars,  and  cultivated  the  acquaintance  of  the  fair  sex.  In  fact,  I  degenerated  into 
a  fop,  and  became  a  shanghai  of  the  most  exotic  breed.  —  The  Great  Republic  Maga- 
zine, Jan.  1859,  p.  70. 

To  Shanty.     To  dweU  in  a  shanty  or  temporary  hut. 

Mark  ShufF  and  a  friend  of  his,  who  were  trapping,  shantied  on  the  outlet,  just  at 
the  foot  of  Tupper's  Lake.  —  Hammond,  Wild  Northern  Scenes,  p.  197. 


S  H  A  397 

"We  came  down  the  Allegany  in  two  canoes,  and  shantied  on  the  Ohio.  We  hid 
our  canoes,  struck  across  the  country,  and  travelled  about  exploring  for  six  weeks. 
—  Ibid., -p.  212. 

These  mountain  breezes  are  very  inspiriting,  and  with  expanded  chests  the  sports- 
men look  towards  the  blue  ridges  with  emulation,  and  brace  themselves  to  meet  the 
rude  exigences  of  a  "tramp,"  and  "  shanteeing  out "  for  a  few  days  amidst  storms  or 
sunshine,  as  the  covering  heavens  may  send  !  — N,  Y.  Courier. 

Shantyixg  Ground.     The  place  where  shanties  or  rude  huts  are  erected. 
When  we  got  back  to  &ur  shantying  ground  we  were  tuckered  out,  as  you  may  be- 
lieve.—  Hammond,  Northern  Scenes,  p.  212. 

Shark.     A  lean,  hungry  hog.     Western. 

Sharking.  Fishing  for  sharks.  A  favorite  sport  in  the  waters  of  Narra- 
gansett  Bay,  where  huge  hooks,  stout  cords,  a  heavy  club  to  knock  the 
fish  on  the  head,  long  knives  to  disengage  the  hook,  and  other  appliances, 
are  used. 

Sharp  Stick.  To  be  after  one  with  a  sharp  stick  is  to  pursue  him  keenly 
for  the  purpose  of  revenge,  or  to  get  something  from  him. 

To  Shave.     To  discount  promissory  notes  or  bills  at  a  high  rate  of  interest. 
Make  your  money  by  shaving  notes  or  stock -jobbing,  and  every  door  in  New  York 
is  thrown  open ;  make  the  same  amount  by  selling  Indian  candy,  and  the  cold 
shoulder  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  is  turned  upon  you.  —  Life  in  New  York. 
If  the  Stock  Broker  thinks  he  shaves, 
Or  if  the  victim  thinks  he 's  shaved. 
Let  both  the  rascals  have  their  say. 
And  he  that 's  cheated,  let  him  pay. 

Parody  on  Emerson's  Brahma. 

Shave  Down.  A  riotous,  boisterous  dance,  so  called  in  the  West.  In 
the  Eastern  States,  the  Virginia  reel,  which  generally  closes  a  social  ball 
or  dancing  party,  is  called  a  break-down. 

An  innocent  countryman,  on  going  to  church  in  New  York,  heard,  for  the  first 
time,  before  entering,  the  organ,  from  whioli  he  concluded  that  some  sort  of  a  "  shave 
doicn  "  was  about  to  commence.  Just  at  that  moment,  a  gentleman  invited  him  to 
walk  in  and  take  a  seat.  "Not  'zactly,  Mister  —  I  ain't  used  to  no  such  doin's  on 
Sunday ;  and,  besides,  I  don't  dance ! " 

Shaver.  This  word,  in  the  United  States,  is  applied  to  money  brokers, 
who  purchase  notes  at  more  than  legal  interest.  Banks,  when  they  resort 
to  any  means  to  obtain  a  large  discount,  are  also  called  shavers,  or  shaving 
banks.  Many  such  are  known ;  but  they  evade  the  penalty  of  the  usury 
laws  by  discounting  at  legal  interest,  and  giving  the  proceeds  of  the  note 
so  discounted  in  a  draft  on  some  distant  place,  or  in  uncurrent  money, 
which  is  again  purchased  by  the  bank  or  its  agents  at  a  discoimt. 

To  sell  our  notes  at  a  great  loss  to  brokers,  or,  in  other  words,  to  get  theoL  un- 
mercifully shaved,  was  what  we  wished  to  avoid.  —  Perils  of  Pearl  Street,  p.  123. 

34 


398  SHE 

Shecoonert.  a  whimsical  corruption  of  the  word  cAtcanery,  used  at  the 
South. 

This  town's  got  a  monsti-ous  bad  name  for  meanery  and  shecoonery  of  all  sorts.  — 
Chronicles  of  Pineville,  p.  47. 

Among  other  topics,  he  dwelt  apon  the  verdancy  of  his  neighbors,  and  the  she- 
coonery which  had  been  practised  upon  them.  —  Ibid.  p.  48. 

Sheddek-Crab.  a  crab  which  has  recently  cast  its  shell,  also  called  a 
Soft  Crab.  It  is  a  delicacy  much  esteemed  by^ epicures,  and  a  "killing  " 
bait  for  striped  bass. 

To  Shell  Corn.  To  remove  the  grains  of  Indian  com  from  the  cob.  In 
the  South  the  phrase  "  to  hull  corn  "  is  used  in  the  same  sense. 

Sheep-Laurel.     See  Calf-hill. 

Sheep-Meat.    Mutton  is  often  so  called  in  the  "West. 

Sheepshead.  (Sargus  ovis.)  A  fine  large  salt-water  fish,  so  called 
from  the  resemblance  of  its  head  to  that  of  a  sheep.  It  is  esteemed  a 
great  delicacy. 

Sheepskin.  1.  The  parchment  diploma  received  by  students  on  taking 
their  degree  at  college. 

This  apostle  of  ourn  never  rubbed  his  back  agin  a  college,  nor  toted  about  no 

sheepskins  —  no,  never ! How  you  'd  a  perished  in  your  sins,  if  the  first 

preachers  had  stayed  till  they  got  sheepskins  !  —  Carlton's  New  Purchase. 

When  first  I  saw  a  sheepskin, 

In  Prex's  hand  I  spied  it, 

I  'd  given  my  hat  and  boots,  I  would, 

If  I  could  have  been  beside  it. 

But  now  that  last  Biennial 's  past ; 
I  skinned  and  fizzled  through  ; 
And  so  in  spite  of  scrapes  and  flunks 
I  '11  have  a  sheepskin  too. 

R.  S.  Willis,  Song  of  the  Sheepskin. 

If  we  came  to  college  fresh  and  green, 
We  go  back  home  with  a  huge  sheepskin. 

Songs  of  Yate  College,  18.53. 

2.  A  person  who  has  received  a  diploma,  who  has  had  a  coUege  edu- 
cation. 

I  can  say  as  well  as  the  best  o'  them  sheepskins,  if  you  don't  get  religion  and  be 
saved,  you  '11  be  lost  teetotally  and  forever.  —  Carlton's  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  203. 

Sheer.  A  term  applied  in  the  United  States  to  fabrics  of  cotton  or  silk ; 
"  as,  sheer  muslin ;  "  meaning  very  tliin,  clear,  or  transparent. 

Shell-Bark.     See  Shag-Bark. 


S  H  E  —  S II I  •  399 

Sherryvallies.  (Fr.  Chevalier.)  Pantaloons  made  of  thick  velvet  or 
leather,  buttoned  on  the  outside  of  each  leg,  and  generally  worn  over 
other  pantaloons.  They  are  now  chiefly  worn  by  teamsters.  Many 
years  ago,  when  the  facilities  for  travelling  were  not  as  great  as  now, 
and  when  journeys  were  made  on  horseback,  sherryvallies  were  indis- 
pensable to  the  traveller. 

Shew,  for  showed.  Ex.  "I  shew  him  the  difference  between  black  and 
white."  This  corruptiqn  is  so  common  among  all  classes  in  the  "  Ameri- 
can Athens,"  as  to  form  a  sort  of  shibboleth  for  distinguishing  a  Bos- 
tonian. 

Shilling.  The  name  given,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  to  the  Spanish 
real ;  in  the  neighboring  States  it  is  fi-equently  called,  a  York  shilling. 
See  Federal  Currency. 

Shimmet.     (Fr.  Chemise.)     A  woman's  under  garment. 

The  ghost  was  nothing  but  aunt  Katy's  shimmeys  pinned  on  the  line  to  dry,  and 
J.  was  a  darned  fool  to  be  scared  by  it.  — A  Tale  of  Sleepy  Hollow. 

I  love  to  see  two  hearts  approximate  and  adhere  —  two  souls  meet  and  mingle 
into  one.  It  is  as  interesting  a  sight  to  me  as  a  slummey  in  a  wash-tub;  and  whispers 
of  purity,  love,  harmony,  happiness,  and  perpetual  peace.  —  Daw's  Sermons. 

To  Shin.  By  shinning,  in  mercantile  phrase,  is  meant  running  about  to 
one's  acquaintance,  to  borrow  money  to  meet  the  emergency  of  a  note  at 
bank.  It  is  doubtless  so  called  because,  in  the  great  hurry  of  picking  up 
cash  to  meet  the  hour  of  three,  which  perchance  is  just  at  hand,  the  bor- 
rower, not  having  the  fear  of  wheelbarrows,  boxes,  barrels,  piles  of  brick, 
etc.,  before  his  eyes,  is  very  apt  to  run  furiously  against  them  with  his  shins, 
the   bark  whereof  is  apt  to  be  grievously  battered  off  by  the  contact. 

So  fai-es  it  with  the  poor  merchant,  while  he  is  looking  out  for 

an  acquaintance  of  whom  he  may  ask,  "  Any  thing  over  ?  "  This  is  an 
expression  used  by  shinners,  on  applying  to  their  acquaintances  for  the 
needful;  and  means,  Have  you  any  money  over  and  above  the  sum 
requisite  for  discharging  your  own  notes  ?  If  so,  it  is  of  course  expected 
that,  in  the  way  of  mercantile  courtesy  or  of  a  friendly  reciprocity,  you 
will  oblige  the  shinner  so  far  as  to  hand  it  over  to  him.  It  is  a  common 
way,  amongst  those  who  have  business  in  banks,  of  obhging  one  another. 
If  they  have  any  thing  over,  they  do  not  withhold  it  from  their  neighbor, 
lest  in  turn  he  should  do  the  same  towards  them.  —  Perils  of  Pearl 
Street,  p.  123. 

The  Senator  was  shinning  around,  to  get  gold  for  the  rascally  bank-rags  which  he 
was  obliged  to  take.  — N.  Y.  Com.  Adv.,  Dec.  13,  1845. 

To  Shin  round.     To  move  briskly ;  the  same  as  tojly  around. 

^Irs.  Stowe  relates  the   following  affectionate  conversation  between 


400  SHI 

Cripps  and  Polly  Skinflint  soon  after  their  marriage  : 

"  Did  u't  you  tell  me,  if  I  married  you,  I  should  have  a  nigger  to  order  round, 
just  as  I  pleased  1 " 

"  Well,  well,"  said  Cripps,  "  I  did  n't  think  you  'd  want  to  go  walloping  him,  the 
first  thing." 

"  I  will,  if  he  don't  shin  round,"  said  the  virago,  "  and  you  too."  —  Dred,  Vol.  II. 
p.  159. 

To  SiiiN  UP.     To  shin  up  a  tree  or  pole  is  to  climb  it  by  the  aid  of  the 
hands  and  legs  only. 

Shin-Dig.     A  blow  on  the  shins.     Southern. 

Shindy.     1.  A  row;  a  spree. 

If  this  ere  is  n't  that  'are  singing  chap  agin.  He 's  on  a  shindy  somewhere  or  other 
every  night.  — J.  C.  Need,  P.  Ploddy,  p.  18. 

It  appears  there  was  a  shindy  on  Monday  night,  for  the  benefit  of  a  poor  widow ; 
and  it  ended,  as  too  many  of  such  sprees  do,  in  a  regular  fight,  with  guns,  bayonets, 
decanters,  tumblers,  etc.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

MosE.     "What  say  you  Lize  for  Vauxhall  to-night  ? 

LiZE.     What 's  goin'  on  ?     Is  the  Vaudeville  plays  there  ? 

MosB.  No,  there 's  goin'  to  be  a  first  rate  shindy,  and  some  of  our  boys  will  be 
there.  —  A  Glance  at  New  York. 

You,  my  democratic  hearers,  are  for  the  most  part  poor,  and,  therefore,  ought  to 
be  careful  how  you  cut  shindies  under  the  broadsword  of  justice.  — Dow's  Sermons. 

2.  A  game  of  ball,  played  with  a  stick  crooked  at  the  end.     Also  the 
name  of  the  stick  itself.     The  proper  and  more  usual  name  is  Bandy. 

3.  A  liking,  a  fancy.     Comp.  Shine,  No.  2. 

Father  took  a  wonderful  shindy  to  Jessie ;  for  even  old  men  can't  help  liking 
beauty.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  70. 

Paddy  had  taken  such  a  shindy  to  me,  that  nobody  could  get  him  to  budge  an 
inch  further.  —  Ibid.  p.  159. 

Shine.    1.  Show,  display,  fine  appearance.    Hence,  to  cut  or  make  a  shine, 
is  to  make  a  great  display. 

All  the  boys  and  gals  were  going  to  camp-meetin' ;  so,  to  make  a  shine  with  Sally, 
I  took  her  a  new  parasol.  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

I  tell  you,  stranger,  in  the  settlements  men  pass  for  what  they  look  to  be,  but  in 
the  backwoods  for  what  they  are ;  you  '11  find  heaps  of  bogus  money  here,  but 
bogus  men  can't  shine.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

So,  to  take  the  shine  off,  is  to  surpass  in  beauty  or  excellence. 

Next  Sabbath  day  I  slicked  myself  up  ;  and  I  do  say,  when  I  got  my  fixins  on, 
I  took  the  shine  clean  off  any  specimen  of  human  natur'  in  these  parts.  —  Quincy, 
Massachusetts,  Wliig. 

I  'm  sorry  he  did  n't  bring  his  pitch-pipe  with  him,  jest  to  take  the  shine  off  them 
'are  singers. — Maj.  Downing's  Letters,  p.  37. 

I  've  seen  some  evening  twilights  that  take  the  shine  off  every  thing  below,  and 
clap  on  a  few  extra  touches  of  their  own.  — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I. 


SHI  401 

2.   A  fancy,  liking  for  a  person.     Comp.  Shindy,  No.  3. 
I  took  a  great  shine  to  the  school  marm,  Huldah  Hornbeam  ;  though  she  was  tea 
years  older  than  I,  and  taller  by  half  a  yard  of  neck.  —  McC Unlock,  Beedle's  Mar- 
riage. 

To  Shine.     1.   To  get  along,  succeed.     Western. 

2.  In  the  Southern  States  the  deer  is  often  hunted  by  torchlight.  To 
shine  its  eyes  is  to  make  them  visible  by  a  light  thrown  upon  them,  as 
described  in  the  following  extract : 

You  see  the  way  we  does  to  shine  the  deer's  eyes  is  this  —  we  holds  the  pan  of  fire 
so,  on  the  left  shoulder,  and  carries  the  gun  at  a  trail  in  the  right  hand.  Well,  when 
I  wants  to  look  for  eyes,  I  turns  round  slow,  and  looks  right  at  the  edge  of  my  shad- 
der,  what 's  made  by  the  light  behind  me  iu  the  pan,  and  if  there  's  a  deer  in  gun- 
sliot  of  me,  his  eyes  '11  shine  'zactly  like  two  balls  of  fire.  —  Chronicles  of  Pineville, 
p.  169. 

He  often  urged  me  to  accompany  him,  to  see  how  slick  he  coold  shine  a  buck's 
eyes.  —  Ibid.  p.  162. 

Shiner.  (Genus,  Letcciscus.)  The  popular  name  of  the  fish  known  to 
naturalists  as  the  Dace.  In  different  parts  of  the  country,  however,  other 
small  fish  are  called  shiners,  from  their  glittering  or  shining  appearance. 
In  New  York  a  small  fish  of  the  genus  Stilbe  is  known  to  naturalists  as 
the  New  York  Shiner.  It  is  also  found  in  the  adjoining  States.  —  Mat. 
Hist,  of  New  York. 

Shingle.  A  jocose  term  for  a  sign-board  placed  over  a  shop-door  or 
office.  The  use  of  this  term  is  said  to  have  originated  in  the  lumbering 
districts  of  Maine,  where  shingles,  being  the  handiest  plane  surface,  are 
used  to  write  directions,  etc.,  on,  and  stuck  up  against  trees. 

Doctors  and  dentists  from  the  United  States  have  stuck  up  their  shingles  in  Mex- 
ico.—iV.  Y.  Com.  Adv.,  Dec.  24,  1848. 

Several  made  bold  to  peep  inside,  in  spite  of  the  "  No  Admittance ! "  which  frowned 
frwm  a  shingle  over  the  door.  —  Drama  at  Pokerville. 

To  Shingle.  To  chastise.  A  shingle  applied  a  posteriori  is  a  favorite 
New  England  mode  of  correcting  a  child. 

Shingle-Weaver.    A  workman  who  dresses  shingles. 

Shinner.     One  who  borrows  money  by  the  practice  of  shinning.     See  To 

Shin. 

Four  weeks  ago  the  precious  stuff 

Was  rife  and  plenteous  enough, 

And  no  "  short  shinner  "  feared  rebuff. 

Who  sued  for  pelf; 
Sure  to  hear  "  flush,"  or  "quantum  suff.  — 
Friend,  help  yourself! " 

iVew  York  Evening  Post. 
34* 


402  SHI— S  HO 

Shinplastek.  a  cant  term  for  a  bank-note  or  any  paper  money,  and 
especially  such  as  has  depreciated  in  value.  This  term  is  said  to  have 
arisen  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  After  the  continental  currency 
had  become  almost  worthless,  an  old  soldier  who  possessed  a  quantity  of 
it,  which  he  could  not  get  rid  of,  very  philosophically  made  use  of  it  as 
plasters  to  a  wounded  leg. 

The  people  may  whistle  for  protection,  and  put  up  Avith  what  shinplaster  rags  they 
can  get.  —N.  Y.  Tribune,  Dec.  3,  1845. 

What 's  become  of  all  the  specie  — 

"Where  are  all  the  dollars  gone  ? 
Nothing  but  shinplasters  greasy 

Do  our  meagre  pockets  own.  —  Comic  Song. 
Hope's  brightest  visions  absquatulate  with  their  golden  promises  before  the  least 
cloud  of  disappointment,  and  leave  not  a  shinplaster  behind.  —  Dow's  Sermons, 
Vol.  I.  p.  309. 

Shitepoke.  (Butorides  virescens.)  A  widely  distributed  bird  of  the 
heron  species,  also  called  Green  Heron  and  Fly-up-a-Creek. 

Shoemake.     a  very  common  corruption  of  sumach. 

It  is  curious  to  note  the  changes  in  taste  and  sentiment,  as  marked  in  the  disap- 
pearance of  various  sorts  of  trees.     Gone  are  the  Lombardy  poplars The 

gudc  wife  no  longer  points  to  her  "shoemake  "  (as  the  sumach  was  formerly  called), 
with  its  crimson  clusters,  the  pride  of  her  trim  front  garden.  —  North  Am.  Rev., 
July,  1857,  p.  181. 

Shoot,  or  Shut e.  1.  A  passage-way  on  the  side  of  a  steep  hill  or  moun- 
tain down  which  wood  and  timber  are  thrown  or  slid.  There  are  many 
such  on  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  rivers.  In  the  West,  the  term  is  ap- 
plied to  places  where  a  river  is  artificially  contracted  in  order  to  increase 
the  depth  of  water.  In  Lower  Canada,  a  shoot  is  a  place  where  the 
stream,  being  confined  by  rocks  which  appear  above  water,  is  shot  through 
the  aperture  with  great  force.  —  CartwrigMs  Labrador,  p.  14. 

2.   In  the  "West,  a  fancy,  liking  for  a  person. 

Tliat  gal  was  the  prcttyest  creatur  I  ever  took  a  shute  after ;  her  eyes  jest  floated 
about  in  licr  head  like  a  star's  shadow  on  a  Mississippi  wave.  —  RM,  Squatter  Life. 

To  Shoot.     To  shoot  a  fall  or  rapid  is  to  float  down  it  in  a  vessel. 

We  entered  the  lake,  from  whence  we  are  forced  to  transport  our  canoes  overland 
to  another  river,  which  has  six  or  seven  water-falls  that  we  commonly  shoot.  —  La 
llontan's  Travels  in  North  Am.,  1703. 

To  Shoot  one's  Grandmother,  is  a  common  though  vulgar  phrase  in 
New  England,  and  means,  to  be  mistaken,  or  to  be  disappointed;  to 
imagine  oneself  the  discoverer  of  something  in  which  he  is  deceived. 
The  common  phrase  is,  "  You  've  shot  your  granny."  It  is,  in  fact, 
synonymous  with  "  You  've  found  a  mare's  nest." 


S  H  O  403 

Shooter.  A  revolver.  In  the  Western  States,  on  the  frontier,  as  well  as 
in  California,  this  mui'derous  weapon  is  universally  called  a  "  five  "  or  a 
"  six  shooter"  according  to  its  capacity. 

Shooting-Irox.     a  common  "Western  term  for  a  rifle,  or  fowling-piece. 

Drop  your  shooting  iron,  or  ye  '11  get  more  than  ye  '11  send.  — A  Stray  Yankee  in 
Texan. 

A  Hoosier  was  called  upon  the  stand,  away  out  "West,  to  testify  to  the  character 
of  a  brother  Hoosier.     It  was  as  follows  : 

"  How  long  have  you  known  Bill  Bushwhack  ?  " 

"  Ever  since  he  war  bom." 

"  "What  is  his  general  character  ?  " 

"  Letter  A,  No.  1  —  *bove  par  a  very  great  way." 

"  Would  you  believe  him  on  oath  1  " 

"  Yes,  sir-ee,  on  or  off,  or  any  other  way." 

"  What,  in  your  opinion,  are  his  qualifications  to  good  character  1 " 

"  He  's  the  best  shot  on  the  prairies  or  in  the  woods  ;  he  can  shave  the  eye-wink- 
ers off  of  a  wolf  as  far  as  a  shootin'-iron  '11  carry  a  ball ;  he  can  drink  a  quart  of  grog 
any  day  ;  and  he  chaws  tobacco  like  a  boss." 

So  Bill  Bushwhack  passed  muster.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Short-Boys.    A  gang  of  New  York  rowdies. 

Short-Goavn.  a  short  gown  with  hardly  any  skirt,  worn  by  women 
when  doing  household  work,  as  washing,  etc. 

Short  Metre.     In  a  short  period ;  soon. 

Shorts.     Small-clothes;  breeches. 

Shot  in  the  Neck.     Drunk. 

Mr.  Shumacher  informed  the  court  that  he  was  instructed  to  remonstrate  against 
admitting  the  prisoners  to  bail  in  $500,  as  they  had  made  an  outrageous  onslaught 
upon  officers  ia  the  discharge  of  their  duty,  and  had  shot  Under-SherifF  Hegeman  in 
the  head. 

Counsellor  McCue  replied,  in  a  somewhat  facetious  strain,  that  Mr.  Hegeman  is 
often  "  shot  in  the  head ;  "  and  his  manner  produced  much  laughter  after  the  re- 
mark. 

Mr.  Schumacher  defended  his  client  by  observing  that  some  of  the  prisoners' 
attorneys  got  as  often  "  shot  in  the  neck,"  as  the  Under-Sheriff  did  in  the  head.  The 
aptness  of  this  remark  convulsed  the  bar,  and  even  disturbed  the  gravity  of  the 
judge.  — Brooklyn  Journal,  April  18,  1855. 

Shot-Gux.  a  term  for  a  smooth-bored  fowling-piece,  as  distinguished 
from  a  rifle. 

Shote,  or  Shoat.  An  idle,  worthless  fellow  ;  as,  "A  poor  skate."  It  is 
also  provincial  in  England  in  this  sense. 

Seth  Slope  was  what  we  call  down  East  a  poor  shote,  his  principal  business  being 
to  pick  up  chips,  feed  the  hogs,  etc.  —  G.  H.  Hill,  Stories. 


404  SHO  — SHU 

If  you,  my  dear  hearers,  will  make  a  proper  use  of  your  time,  happiness,  peace, 
and  contentment  are  yours  ;  if  not,  you  will  always  be  miserable  shoats,  though  you 
live  till  you  are  as  gray  as  woodchucks.  —  Dow's  Sermons. 

Shoulder-Hitter.  A  ruffian,  bully.  A  recent  accession  to  blackguard 
nomenclature,  in  which  we  are  now  so  rich. 

Just  such  conduct  as  that  exhibited  by  Judge  R compelled  seven  thousand 

citizens  to  leave  their  offices,  stores,  shops,  and  factories,  to  rid  the  city  of  San  Fran- 
cisco of  the  pestilential  presence  of  a  band  of  shoulder-hitteis  and  ballot-box  stuffers, 
such  as  never  before  infested  an  American  city. — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Sept.  30,  1858. 

Shoveller.  (^Anas  clypeata.)  A  beautiful  duck,  chiefly  found  in  Texas 
and  in  the  streams  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  though  they  are  sometimes 
seen  in  our  northern  waters. 

Shucks.  The  outer  husk  or  shell  of  the  walnut,  chestnut,  etc. ;  or  the 
husk  of  Indian  corn.  In  England,  the  word  is  applied  to  pods  as  well  as 
husks  ;  as,  pea-shucks.  At  the  South,  where  the  word  is  most  in  use,  it 
is  also  applied  to  the  shells  of  oysters.  Not  worth  shucks  is  a  Southern 
expression,  meaning  good  for  nothing.  At  the  South  the  term  is  also 
applied  to  the  shells  of  oysters. 

If  them  thar  is  all  he  's  got  to  offer,  he  ain't  worth  shucks ;  and  if  you  don't  lick 
him,  you  ain't  worth  shucks  neither.  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

Tliey  had  three  or  four  hounds,  and  one  great  big  yellow  cow,  what  was  n't  worth 
shucks  to  trail.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  48. 

TJie  bear  did  n't  seem  to  care  shucks  for  him  ;  for  he  sot  the  old  rifle  agin  the  sap- 
lin,  and  walked  off  on  liis  hind  legs  jest  like  any  human.  —  Mike  Hooter,  hj  a  Mis- 
sour  ian. 

To  Shuck.  To  shuck  corn  is  to  strip  off  the  husks,  called  in  the  South 
"  shucks,"  from  Indian  corn. 

Hence,  to  shuck  off  one's  coat,  is  to  strip  or  peel  it  off,  as  for  a  fight 

He  'd  get  as  mad  as  all  wrath,  and  charge  like  a  ram  at  a  gate-post,  and  the  first 
thing  you  knowed,  ho  'd  shuck  off  his  coat  to  fight.  —  Southern  Sketc?ies,  p.  31. 

Shucking,  or  Corn-Shucking.     See  Husking. 
And  when  the  lamp  is  lighted 

In  the  long  November  days, 
And  lads  and  lasses  mingle 

At  shucking  of  the  maize ; 
When  pies  of  smoking  pumpkin 

Upon  the  table  stand. 
And  bowls  of  black  molasses 

Go  round  from  hand  to  hand ; 
When  slap-jacks,  maple-sugared, 

Ai'e  hissing  in  the  pan. 
And  cider,  with  a  dash  of  gin, 

Foams  in  the  social  can ; 


SHU  — SHY  405 


With  laughter  and  witli  weeping 

Then  shall  they  tell  the  tale, 
How  Colt  his  foeman  quartered, 

And  died  within  the  jail. 

Bon  Gaultier,  Lay  of  Mr.  Colt. 

To  Shut  up.  1.  To  stop  talking;  to  hold  one's  tongue.  A  vulgar  ex- 
pression, for  which  to  dry  up  is  now  sometimes  substituted. 

Jones  was  singing,  "  'T  is  the  Star  Spangled  Banner ; "  but  was  soon  made  to  shut 
up,  and  Leviller's  name  was  called.  —  Pickings  from  the  Picayune. 

Did  you  ever  see  a  marmaid  1  Well,  then,  I  reckon  you  'd  best  shut  up ;  'cause  I 
have  —  and  marmen  too,  and  marmisses. — Burton,  Waggeries. 

The  musician  suddenly  "  shut  up,"  and,  after  many  suspicious  sights  at  Charley, 
jumped  over  to  the  side  of  the  lady,  and  spoke  a  few  words  in  his  own  language 
with  more  than  customary  rapidity.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 
.  "  Look  here,  boys,"  said  the  preacher  to  a  crowd  which  had  gathered  round, 
laughing  and  betting  with  slang  oaths  and  imprecations,  "  None  of  this  at  the  camp- 
meeting  !  This  is  the  Lord's  ground  here,  so  shut  up  your  swearing  and  don't  fight." 
—  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  312. 

2.   To  cause  to  stop  talking ;  to  reduce  to  silence. 

"  I  order  you  again  to  shut  up,"  said  the  watchman.  "  There  ain't  no  two  ways 
about  it  —  you  must  either  shut  up  yourself,  or  I  '11  shut  you  up  in  a  winking." — N. 
0.  Picayune. 

Shute.     See  Shoot. 

To  Shy.  To  throw  a  light  substance,  as  a  flat  stone,  or  a  shell,  with  a 
careless  jerk.     And  so  in  England. 

Just  to  make  matters  lively,  I  headed  up  alongside  of  Molly,  and  shied  a  few  soft 
things  at  her,  such  as  asking  how  she  liked  bar  steaks  cooked,  and  if  Jim  wam't 
equal  in  the  elbow  to  a  mad  panter's  tail,  and  such  amusin'  conversation.  —  Rdbb, 
Squatter  Life.  ' 

To  Shy  around.     To  hang  about. 

I  was  kind  of  shying  round  and  looking  at  the  everlastin'  sight  of  books,  when  he 
came  in.  — Maj.  Downing,  May-day  in  New  York,  p.  1. 

Shyster.  A  term  applied  to  a  set  of  men  who  hang  about  the  Police 
Courts  of  New  York  and  other  large  cities,  and  practise  in  them  as  law- 
yers, but  who,  in  many  cases,  have  never  been  admitted  to  the  bar.  They 
are  men  who  have  served  as  policemen,  turnkeys,  sheriff's  officers,  or  in 
any  capacity  by  which  they  have  become  familiar  with  criminals  and  crim- 
inal courts. 

The  miserable  creature  who  has  fallen  into  the  watchman's  clutches  may  make  his 
escape  if  he  has  money ;  but  if  not,  he  must  go  to  quod  and  wait  next  day  for  the 
visits  of  the  shyster  lawyers  —  a  sett  of  turkey  buzzards,  whose  touch  is  pollution  and 
whose  breath  is  pestilence.  —  New  York  in  Slices.     The  Tombs. 

When  a  man  or  woman  is  thrown  into  prison,  a  shyster  leech  gets  access  to  him. 


40G  SIC  — SIE 

and  extorts  from  him  his  last  cent  under  the  pretence  of  obtaining  his  liberation.  — 
N.  Y.  Tribune. 

The  appearance  of  a  large  number  of  abandoned  women  in  the  Police  Court, 
drew  together  a  large  concourse  of  people.  The  shysters,  or  Tombs  lawyers,  were 
on  hand,  and  sought  to  intercede  for  their  clients ;  but  the  magistrates  would  listen  to 
no  appeals.  — Ibid.  March  13,  1857. 

The  Prison  Association  held  its  monthly  meeting  last  night.  The  report  was  rich 
in  incidents  and  developments  about  the  skinners,  sharks,  and  shysters  of  the  Tombs. 
—  New  York  Express. 

Sick.     Afflicted  with  disease,  ill  in  health. 

The  word  "  sich  "  is  used  in  New  England  in  the  same  sense  as  it  was 
in  the  time  of  Shakspeare,  or  when  the  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land was  composed.  —  Lyell's  Second  Visit,  Chapter  IX. 

Sidewinder  :  A  heavy  blow  with  the  fist.     New  York. 

Mayor  Wood  is  just  the  man  to  seize  and  improve  in  an  inaugural  address  the 
opportunity  of  dealing  Recorder  Smith  what  the  boys  call  a  sidewinder.  —  New  York 
Tribune. 

Side-Wipe.     A  heavy  blow  with  the  fist.     Southern. 

Arch  would  fetch  him  a  side  wipe  on  the  head,  and  knock  him  into  the  middle  of 
next  week.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  31. 

Side-Walk.     The  walk  for  foot-passengers  on  each  side  of  the  carriage- 
way in  a  street  or  road.     In  England  it  is  called  the  "  pavement." 
As  there  is  but  very  little  mud  at  any  time  in  Copiapo,  and  few  suitable  pebble 
stones,  only  a  street  or  two  has  been  paved  ;  nor  has  the  municipal  council  given 
much  thought  to  the  necessity  of  side-walks.  —  Gilliss's  Chile,  Vol.  I.  p.  2.'52. 

Sidings.     Wedged-shaped  boards  used  for  the  sides  and  roofs  of  houses. 

To  Sidle  out.     To  get  out  sideways;  to  back  out.     Southern. 

If  he  tried  to  sidle  out  of  the  quarrel,  Arch  would  get  as  mad  as  wrath,  an'  swar, 
an'  curse,  an'  run.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  31. 

Sidling.     A  place  at  which  to  turn  off"  on  a  railroad  to  wait  for  a  passing 
engine.     The  English  term  is  siding. 

Sierra.     (Span.)     A  ridge  of  mountains.     The  term  is  universally  ap- 
phed  to  mountain  ridges  in  New  Mexico  and  California. 

At  night,  above  their  rocky  bed 

Tliey  saw  the  stars  march  slow ; 
The  wild  Sierra  overhead. 

The  desert's  death  below.  —  Whittier. 

The  sierras,  which  surround  the  plain,  teem  with  the  precious  metals ;  .  .  .  .  one 
person,  wthout  capital  or  machinery,  derives  a  considerable  income  from  a  mine 
whicli  produces  gold,  silver,  lead,  and  sulphur  from  the  same  sierra. — Buxton's 
Mexico,  p.  131. 


SIG  — SIL  407 

Sight.  1.  A  great  many ;  a  great  deal.  An  old  meaning  of  the  word, 
still  colloquial  in  England.  "  A  sight  of  people,"  is  a  great  multitude  ; 
"  my  husband  is  a  sight  handsomer  than  yours,"  i.  e.  much  handsomer. 
Sight  is  used  in  most  of  the  Northern  and  Eastern,  and  heap  m  the 
Southern  and  "Western  States. 

Yes,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  'd  a  powerful  sight  sooner  go  into  retiracy  among  the  red, 
wild  aborigines  of  our  wooden  country,  nor  consent  to  that  bill,  —  Carlton,  The 
New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  74. 

2.  In  North  Carolina,  the  distance  that  can  be  seen  on  a  road  is  called 
a  sight. 

Sign.  In  the  unsettled  parts  of  the  far  "West,  the  traces  of  the  recent 
presence  of  men  or  animals  are  called  signs,  or  more  technically,  sign. 
One  hears  of  Indian  sign,  cow  sign,  bear  sign,  hog  sign,  etc. 

"  What 's  the  sign  out  on  the  plains  1  " 

"  War-party  of  Rapahos  passed  Squirrel  at  sundoAvn  yesterday,  and  nearly  raised 
my  animals.  Sign,  too,  of  more  on  the  left  fork  of  boiling  Spring."  —  N.  Y.  Spirit 
of  the  Times. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  negro  brain  is  incapable  of  that  acute  reasoning 
which  constitutes  a  cunning  hunter.  I  have  known  black  men  who  could  read  "  sign  " 
or  lift  a  trail  with  as  much  intuitive  quickness  as  either  red  or  white.  —  Capt.  Mayne 
Reid,  Osceola,  p.  113. 

Several  deer  jumped  out  of  the  bottom  when  we  entered,  and  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  I  saw  some  fresh  beaver  sign.  —  Ruxton's  Mexico  and  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  173. 

The  men  scoured  the  country  around  in  search  for  the  missing  mules,  and  having 
seen  Indian  sign  keeping  near  us  for  miles,  they  believed  the  animals  had  been 
taken.  —  Bartlett's  Personal  Narrative, 

Our  Delawares  report  that  they  have  seen  numerous  fresh  buffalo  signs,  and  that 
we  shall  soon  come  upon  the  herds. —  Capt.  Marcy,  Report  on  the  Red  River. 

To  Sign  off.  To  release  a  debtor  by  agreeing  to  accept  whatever  he 
offers  to  pay ;  to  give  a  receipt  in  full  of  all  demands.  An  expression 
common  among  merchants. 

To  Signalize.  To  communicate  information  by  means  of  signals  or  tele- 
graph ;  to  signal.     An  absurd  use  of  the  word. 

The  ship  was  signalized  about  eight  o'clock  this  morning,  and  came  up  the  harbor 
in  fne  style.  — N.  Y.  Com.  Adv.  Jan.  17,  1848. 

Silk-Grass.     See  Bear- Grass. 

Silver  Fox.  (^Canis  argentatus.)  A  black  fox,  with  white  hairs  inter- 
spersed on  the  back.  Like  the  Cross-fox,  this  variety  is  rare.  They 
are  found  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  Their  skins  are  used  for 
ladies'  muffs,  and  bring  a  high  price. 

Silver  Gar.     See  Bill-Fish. 


408  SIL— SIR 

Silver  Grays.  This  term  originated  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  was 
applied  to  the  conservative  portion  of  the  Whig  pai-ty.  At  a  political 
convention  in  that  State,  certain  measures  proposed  not  being  agreeable 
to  many,  they  at  once  withdrew.  As  they  left  the  meeting,  it  was 
observed  that  many  were  men  whose  locks  were  silvered  by  age,  which 
drew  forth  the  remark  from  some  one  present,  "There  go  the  silver 
grays  !  "  The  tei-m  remains,  and  is  the  only  one  now  used  to  distinguish 
one  branch  of  the  Whig  party. 

To  SiMiLATE.  To  put  on  the  appearance  of  that  which  does  not  really 
belong  to  the  subject. 

And  tliis  holds  true  both  of  actions  which  similate  the  intellect,  and  those  which 
similate  the  moral  sense,  such  as  gratitude  and  shame  in  a  dog.  —  Tappan's  Psy- 
chology. 

'Simmon.  A  contraction  for  persimmon  ;  as  in  the  Southern  adage,  "  The 
longest  pole  knocks  down  the  'simmons" 

Singed  Cat.  An  epithet  applied  to  a  person  whose  appearance  does  him 
injustice. 

Who  would  have  thought  that  milksop  of  a  lawyer  would  have  done  so  well  ? 
Howsomever  you  can't  judge  a  fellow  ft"om  liis  looks.  After  all,  that 's  a  fact ;  for 
that  critter  is  like  a  singed  cat,  better  nor  he  seems,  —  Sam  Slick,  The  Old  Judge, 
Vol.  I.  p.  44. 

Parson  Brownlow  has  found  an  antagonist  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pryne,  of  Cincinnati. 
So  when  the  Tennessee  parson  visits  Philadelphia  they  are  to  have  it !  We  reckon 
there  '11  be  fun ;  as  a  Cincinnati  paper  says  Pryne  is  a  perfect  singed  cat !  —  New  Or- 
leans Bulletin,  May,  1858. 

Sink.     See  Battery, 

Sink-Hole,  or  Sink.  A  hole  or  depression  in  limestone  lands  where  the 
waters  sink  and  are  lost.  These  places  are  common  in  the  Middle  and 
Western  States.     See  Cavern  limestone. 

A  hunter,  while  in  the  pursuit  of  a  deer,  fell  into  one  of  those  deep,  funnel-shaped 
pits,  formed  on  the  prairies  by  the  settling  of  waters  after  heavy  rains,  and  known 
by  the  name  of  sink-holes.  —  Irving,  Tour  on  the  Prairies,  p.  147. 

Leaving  the  Pecos,  we  stopped  to  look  at  some  limestone  sinks  near  the  road.  The 
earth  and  stones  had  caved  in,  or  sunk,  in  spots  varying  from  ten  to  tliirty  feet  in 
diameter.  — Bartlett's  Pers.  Narrative,  Vol.  I.  p.  110. 

Sirs.     This  plural  is  adopted  by  many  persons  in  commercial  correspond- 
ence  in   beginning  their  letters.     Instead  of  the  word  gentlemen,   ad- 
dressed to  a  firm,  they  write.  Dear  Sirs. 
Sirs,  said  the  umpire,  cease  your  pother. —  Chamdion. 

SiRREE.  "  Yes,  sirree"  and,  "  No,  sirree"  for  "  Yes  sir,"  and  "  No  sir." 
This  vulgar  slang,  which  originated  in  New  York,  is  now  heard  throughout 


SIS  — SKI  409 

the  Union.     Sometimes,  as  if  not  already  puerile  enough,  the  word  "  hoh  " 
is  added,  as,  "  Tes,  sirree,  bob." 

While  hearing  a  case,  the  attorney  stated  in  his  plea  that  he  believed  one  of  the 
jurors  was  intoxicated.     The  judge,^  addressing  the  man  alluded  to,  said  : 
"  Sir,  are  you  drunk  ?  " 

The  juror,  straightening  himself  up,  in  a  bold  half-defiant  tone,  replied,  "No,  sir- 
ree, bob!" 

"  Well,"  said  the  judge,  "  I  fine  you  five  dollars  for  the  *  ree '  and  ten  for  the  '  bob.' " 
—  Baltimore  Sun,  March  30,  1857. 

Siss  and  Sissy.  Contractions  for  sister,  often  used  in  addressing  girls, 
even  by  their  parents. 

To  Siss.    To  hiss.     A  colloquialism  also  used  in  England. 

SiSTERN,  for  sisters.  A  vulgar  pronunciation  SMnetimes  heard  from  un- 
educated preachers  at  the  West. 

Brethum  and  sistum,  it 's  a  powerful  great  work,  this  here  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
as  the  great  apostle  hisself  allows  in  them  words  of  hissin  what 's  jest  come  into  my 
mind  ;  for  I  never  knowed  what  to  preach  till  I  ris  up.  —  Carlton,  The  New  Pur- 
chase, Vol.  I.  p.  203. 

SiTiO.  (Span.)  A  Spanish  superficial  measure,  used  in  the  States  and 
Territories  of  Spanish  origin.  The  sitio  is  a  league  of  land  of  5,000 
varas,  and  is  equal  to  4,428  English  acres. 

SixPENCETllie  r^ew  York  name  for  the  Spanish  half-reaJ.  See  Federal 
Currency. 

Six-Shooter.     a  revolver  with  six  chambers.     See  Shooter. 

To  Sizzle.     To  luss  from  the  acticm  of  fire.  —  Forby. 

From  the  ends  of  the  ^vood  the  sap  fries  and  drips  on  the  sizzling  coals  below,  and 
flies  ofi"  in  angry  steam.  — Margaret,  p.  159. 

Skeary,  or  Skeery.     See  Scary. 

Skearsome,  or  Skeer&ome.     See  Searesome.  .^  /  v  y  /^ 

Skeezicks.     a  mean,  ccMitemptible  fellow.     Western. 

At  a  Republican  meeting  in  Indiana,  the  other  day,  a  speaker  named  Long  re- 
sponded to  a  loud  call  and  took  the  stand.  But  a  big,  strapping  fellow  persisted  in 
crying  out  in  a  stentorian  voice,  "^Long,  Long  !  "  This  caused  a  little  confusion ; 
but,  after  some  difficulty  in  making  himself  heard,  the  president  succeeded  in  stating 
that  Mr.  Long,  the  gentleman  honored  by  the  call,  was  now  addi-essing  them.  "  Oh, 
he  be  d — d  !  "  replied  the  fellow;  "  he^s  the  little  skeezicks  that  told  me  to  call  for 
Long  !  "     This  brought  down  the  house.  —  (  Wash.)  Evening  Star,  Nov.  1858. 

Skid.  A  piece  of  light  timber,  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  in  length,  upon 
which  heavier  timber  is  roiled  or  slid  from  place  to  place. 

35 


410  SKI  — SKU 

■ 

Skilts.  a  sort  of  brown  tow  trow^ers  formerly  worn  in  New  England, 
very  large,  and  reaching  just  below  the  knees.  In  Dorsetshire,  England, 
half-boots  are  called  skilty-boots. 

The  lad's  shilts,  through  which  were  thrust  his  lean  dry  shanks,  gave  him  a  sem- 
hlance  to  a  peasant  of  Gascony  on  stilts.  — Margaret,  p.  22. 

Skimping.  Scanty,  as  the  pattern  of  a  dress.  Used  also  in  the  south  of 
England. 

Skinner.     See  Shyster. 

Skip-jack.     See  Bliie  Fish. 

Skipper.    The  cheese-mite.    Also  called  in  England  the  Cheese-Hopper. 

Skippert.     Abounding  in  cheese-mites. 

With  the  opening  of  spring,  insects,  caterpillars,  and  reptiles  will  start  from  their 
hiding-places,  and  the  earth  appear  as  animated  as  a  plate  of  shippery  cheese  or  the 
carcass  of  a  dead  horse  in  dog  days.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  II.  p.  258. 

To  Skite.     To  skite  about  is  to  go  running  about. 

Skunk.  1.  (Mephitis  mephitica.)  A  small,  carnivorous  American  quad- 
ruped, allied  to  the  weasel  and  badger,  and  which,  on  being  irritated,  emits 
a  very  fetid  secretion.     The  name  is  from  the  Abenaki  seganku. 

Old  men,  you  can't  conceal  the  sad  changes  time  has  wrought  upon  you.  You 
may  scent  your  persons  with  the  sweetest  perfume  ;  but  they  will  no  more  compare 
with  the  rich  fragrance  that  youth  and  beauty  emit,  than  the  atmosphere  which  sur- 
rounds a  wounded  skunk  can  equal  the  odor  of  an  orange  grove.  —  Dow's  Sermons, 
Vol.  II.  p.  244. 

2.   A  vile  or  good  for  nothing  fellow. 

Now,  Tom,  you  skunk,  this  is  the  third  time  you  've  forgot  to  set  on  that  switch. 
—  Notes  on  Canada,  etc.,  Blackwood, 

To  Skunk.  1.  To  utterly  defeat.  In  games  of  chance,  if  one  of  the 
players  fails  to  make  a  point,  he  is  said  to  be  skunked.  A  presidential 
candidate  who  fails  to  secure  one  electoral  vote  is  also  skunked. 

2.   A  student  who  leaves  college  without  settling  up,  is  said  to  skunk 
his  bills. 

Skunk  Blackbird.  The  common  marsh  blackbird,  so  called  in  the  rural 
districts  of  New  England,  New  York,  and  Canada  West.     See  Bohlink. 

We  followed  that  old  Polyglott,  the  skunk  blackbird,  and  heard  him  describe  the 
way  they  talked  at  the  winding  up  of  the  Tower  of  Babel.  —  H.  W.  Beecher,  Star 
Papers,  p.  192. 

Skunk  Cabbage.  (Symplocarpus  foetidus.)  A  strong-scented,  repulsive 
plant,  exceedingly  deserving  of  the  name  it  bears.  The  odor  depends 
on  a  volatile  principle,  not  separable  by  distillation.     This  plant  has  been 


SKU  — SLA  411 

found  useful  in  asthma  and  some  other  diseases.  —  Bigeloxjo's  Plants  of 

Boston. 

The  green,  tender  blades  of  youth,  the  ripened  stems  of  manhood,  and  the  bloom- 
ing flowers  of  beauty,  all  fall  indiscriminately  before  the  fell  stroke  of  time,  and 
wither  together  like  skunk  cabbage,  clover-heads,  and  lilies.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  II. 
p.  183. 

Skunkhead.  Tlie  popular  name,  on  the  sea-coast,  of  the  Pied  Duck 
{Fuligula  labradora)  of  ornithologists.  —  Nat.  Hist,  of  New  York. 

Sky-Larking.  A  term  used  by  seamen  for  games  or  tricks  with  each 
other  in  the  rigging,  tops,  etc.,  of  ships ;  and  hence  transferred  to  any- 
kind  of  rough  play. 

The  New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer,  in  speaking  of  an  election  for 
officers  of  the  Mercantile  Library,  says : 

There  was  a  considerable  amount  of  skylarking  carried  on  from  sunset  until  mid- 
night in  the  halls  and  passages  of  the  building,  hats  were  smashed,  and  members 
tumbled  on  the  floor ;  but  everybody  preserved  good  humor,  and  even  the  defeated 
candidates  yielded  to  the  contagious  influence  of  merriment  and  hilarity.  —  May  19, 
1858. 

Sky-Racket.     The  vulgar  pronunciation  of  sky-rocket. 

To  Slab  off.  To  throw  aside  as  useless,  like  the  outside  piece  of  a  log 
when  sawn  up  into  planks,  which  is  called  a  slab. 

You  must  take  notice  that  I  am  slabb'd  off  fix)m  the  election,  and  am  nothing  but 
a  "  voter ;  "  and  this  gives  me  a  right  to  dictate  to  the  rest.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  212. 

Slab-sided.     Having  perpendicular  sides,  wall-sided. 

To  get  any  thing  to  eat  was  only  to  be  accomplished  by  taking  a  stand  some  one 
or  two  hours  before  meal  time,  and  this  was  invariably  done  by  a  slab-sided  genius 
*fix)m  the  hungry  side  of  the  Granite  State  Hills.  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

"  My  dear  girls,"  said  the  preacher,  "  I  like  to  see  a  small  waist  as  well  as  any- 
body ;  and  females  with  hour-glass  shapes  suit  my  fancy  better  than  your  Dutdi- 
chum,  soap-barrel,  slab-sided  sort  of  figures  ;  but  I  don't  want  to  give  the  credit  to 
corsets."  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  II.  p.  200. 

Jack  Downing  says  that  Maine  is  the  middle  and  kernel  of  real  Yankeeism  ;  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut  point  to  each  other  as  the  focus  of  the  article ;  whQe  the 
Massachusetts  man  will  tell  you  that  the  real  slab-sided  whittler  is  indigenous  to  Var- 
mount  and  New  Hampshire.  —  Knickerbocker  Mag.,  March,  1856. 

Slang- Whangee.  This  curious  word  is  defined  by  Mr.  Pickering  as  sig- 
nifying "  a  writer  or  noisy  talker,  who  makes  use  of  that  sort  of  pohti- 
cal  or  other  cant,  which  amuses  the  rabble,  and  is  called  by  the  vulgar 
name  of  slang."  The  word  frequently  occurs  in  Paulding's  Salmagundi  ; 
but  it  is  now  seldom  heard. 

"Mere  availability,"  and  the  "available  candidate,"  are  not  the  phrases  with 
wliich  the  slang-whangers  of  all  sides  assail  the  Philadelphia  Convention.  —  New 
York  Baltcry. 


412  SLA  V 

Parson  Brownlow  is  a  local  preacher  and  editor  in  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  and  one 
of  the  slang-whangers  of  the  South-west.  — Harper's  Magazine,  Dec.  1857. 

Slang-Whanging.     Political  cant. 

Part  of  the  customary  slang-whanging  against  all  other  nations  which  is  habitual 
to  the  English  press. — N.  Y.  Com.  Adv.,  Oct.  10,  1845. 

If  the  word  is,  as  has  been  supposed,  of  American  origin,  it  has  been 
adopted  in  the  mother  country. 

What  else  ?     No  part  I  take  in  party  fray, 

With  tropes  from  Billingsgate's  slang-whanging  Tartars, 
I  fear  no  pope  —  and  let  Ernest  play 
At  Fox  and  Goose  with  Fox's  Martyrs  ! 

Hood,  Ode  to  Ray  Wilson. 

Slant.     A  side  blow.     A  slang  word. 

Slantendicular.     Aslant ;  oblique.     A  factitious  vulgarism. 

Slantendicularly,  or  Slantshwise.     Obliquely. 

Pony  got  mad  and  sent  the  Elder  right  slap  over  his  head  slantendicularly,  on  the 
broad  of  his  back  into  the  river.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  28. 

Slap-Jack.  a  pancake.  A  country  girl  formerly  was  not  considered  eli- 
gible for  marriage  until  she  could  make  a  shirt  and  toss  a  slap-jack  fairly 
right  into  the  middle  of  the  pan.     In  England  they  are  called  Jlap-jachs. 

To  the  Van  Nests  of  Kinderhook,  if  report  may  be  believed,  are  we  indebted  for 
the  invention  of  slap-jacks,  or  buckwheat  cakes.  —  Knickerbocker's  New  York. 

Slashes.  Swampy  or  wet  lands  overgrown  with  bushes.  Southern  and 
Western. 

Although  the  inner  lands  want  the  benefit  of  game  (which,  however,  no  pond  or 
slash  is  without),  yet  even  they  have  the  advantage  of  wild-turkeys,  etc. — Beverly's 
Virginia,  1705,  Book  II. 

Between  this  and  Edenton  there  are  many  whortlebeny  slashes,  which  afford  a  con- 
venient harbor  for  wolves  and  foxes.  — Westover  Papers,  p.  28. 

Slat.  A  narrow  piece  of  board  or  timber,  used  to  fasten  together  large 
pieces  ;  as,  the  slats  of  a  cart  or  chair.  —  Webster.  Mr.  Wright  says  the 
word  is  used  in  Northamptonshire  to  denote  "  the  flat  step  of  a  ladder." 

To  Slat.  A  word  of  uncertain  derivation,  signifying  to  throw  down  with 
violence.  —  Toone's  Glossary. 

Slatted  his  brains  out,  then  soused  him  in  the  briny  sea.  —  Old  Play,  The  Malcon- 
tents. 

With  that,  I  handed  him  ray  axe,  and  he  slatted  about  the  chamber  a  spell.  —  Maj. 
Downing's  Letters,  p.  200. 

Suz  alive  !  but  warn't  my  dander  up  to  hear  myself  called  a  flat  ?  down  I  slat  the 
basket  and  upsot  all  the  berries.  —  Lafayette  Chronicle. 


SLA  — SLE  413 

Aunt  Nancy  would  retire  to  the  kitchen,  and,  taking  up  the  dipper,  would  slat 
round  the  hot  water  from  a  kettle.  — N.  Y.  Com.  Ado.,  May  15,  1846. 

Slave  Labor.    The  labor  of  slaves. 

But  when  I  hear  you  avowing  that  slave  labor  shall  not  come  in  competition  with 
free  labor,  ...  I  am  led  to  infer  that  when  the  throat-cutting  tragedy  comes  off, 
you  hope  to  see  the  whites  the  victors.  —  A  Voice  from  the  South,  p.  19. 

Slaveocrat.     a  slaveholder. 

Slaveocracy.     The  owners  of  slaves,  as  a  class ;  slaveholders. 

Arnold  Buffum  was  the  next  talker  [at  the  meeting  of  the  National  Reformers]. 
The  burden  of  his  song  was  the  Constitution  —  Slavery  —  Free  Soil  —  an  anecdote 
or  two  —  and  an  exhortation  to  curb  the  slavcocracy.  — N.  Y.  Express,  Sept.  4, 1848. 

To  this  end  the  entire  influence  and  patronage  of  the  government,  its  civil,  mili- 
tary, and  moral  power,  are  all  directed ;  and  along-side  of  these,  prominent  and 
threatening,  stands  the  bullying  of  the  slaveocracy,  boastingly  pointing  to  the  bowie- 
knife,  the  pistol,  and  the  bludgeon,  and  impudently  taunting  the  entire  North  with 
cowardice.  — N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enq.,  May  27,  1856. 

Slave  Power.  The  political  power  of  slaveholders ;  the  body  of  slave- 
holders. 

Slave  State.     A  State  in  which  negro  slavery  exists. 

Either  the  cotton  and  rice  fields  of  South  Carolina  and  the  sugar  plantations  of 
Louisiana  will  ultimately  be  tilled  by  free  labor,  and  Charleston  and  New  Orleans 
become  marts  for  legitimate  merchandise  alone,  or  else  the  rye  fields  and  wheat 
fields  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York  must  again  be  surrendered  by  their  farmers 
to  slave  culture  and  to  the  production  of  slaves,  and  Boston  and  New  York  become 
once  more  markets  for  trade  in  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  It  is  the  failm-e  to 
apprehend  this  great  truth  that  induces  so  many  unsuccessful  attempts  at  final  com- 
promise between  the  slave  and  free  States,  and  it  is  tlie  existence  of  this  great  fact 
that  renders  all  such  pretended  compromises,  when  made,  vain  and  ephemeral."  — 
Speech  of  Hon.  W.  H.  Seward,  Oct.  1858. 

Slazy.  a  corrupt  pronunciation  of  sleazy  or  sleezy ;  i.  e.  weak,  wanting 
substance  ;  thin ;  flimsy.  It  is  also  pronounced  so  in  some  parts  of  Eng- 
land. 

Sled.     See  Ferry  Flat. 

To  Sleep.  Sometimes  used  as  an  active  verb ;  as,  "  This  steamboat  can 
sleep  three  hundred  passengers,"  i.  e.  can  furnish  sleeping  accommoda- 
tions for  them.  We  have  heard  of  a  landlady  who  said  "  she  could  eat 
fifty  people  in  her  house,  although  she  could  not  sleep  half  the  number." 

Sleigh.  A  vehicle  moved  on  runners,  and  greatly  used  in  America  for 
transporting  persons  or  goods  on  snow  or  ice.  —  Webster.  In  England  it 
is  called  a  sledge.  During  the  winter  of  1844,  after  a  fall  of  snow  in 
London,  an  English  newspaper  observed  that  "  the  Queen  was  making 

35* 


414  SLE  — SLI 

preparations  for  sledge-driving"  which  in  America  few  would  understand 
to  mean  that  Her  Majesty  was  about  taking  a  sleigh-ride. 
Sleigh-Bell.  a  small  hollow  ball,  made  of  bell-metal,  having  a  slit  in 
it  that  passes  half  round  its  circumference,  and  containing  a  small,  solid 
ball  of  a  size  not  to  escape.  These  bells  are  fastened  to  leathern  straps, 
which  pass  round  the  necks  or  bodies  of  the  horses.  They  produce  a 
musical  and  lively  sound,  which  is  useful  to  give  warning  of  the  approach- 
ing vehicle,  and  is  pleasing  to  the  ear. 
Sleigh-Ride.     Used  both  as  a  noun  and  as  a  verb. 

Men  do  not  derive  the  right  to  do  good  from  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  nor  need 
they  go  to  the  Westminster  Confession  for  liberty  to  recover  the  intemperate,  set  free 
the  bond,  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked,  educate  the  ignorant,  and  give  sleigh- 
rides  to  beggars'  children  that  never  before  laughed  and  cuddled  in  a  buffalo-robe.  — 
Rev.  H.  W.  Beecher. 
In  winter  we  sleigh-ride,  coast,  skate,  and  snow-ball.  —  Margaret. 
Sleighing.     1.   The  state  of  the  snow  which  admits  of  running  sleighs. — 
Webster.     As,  "  good  sleighing"  "  bad  sleighing ; "  and   in   the   winter 
when  there  is  no  snow,  we  say  there  is  "  no  sleighing." 
2.   The  act  of  riding  in  a  sleigh.  —  Webster. 
Slewed.     Tipsy ;  drunk.     A  common  expression  in  the  United  States,  and 
also  used  in  Yorkshire,  England- 

"  Never  go  to  bed,"  said  a  father  to  his  son,  "  without  knowing  something  you 
did  not  know  in  the  morning."  "  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  youth,  "  I  went  to  bed 
slewed  last  night  —  did  n't  dream  of  such  a  thing  in  the  morning."  —  Whig  Almanac, 
1855. 

Slick.  1.  The  popular  pronunciation  of  sleek,  and  so  written  by  some  au- 
thors. —  Webstei'.  It  is  also  used  adverbially  in  vulgar  language,  like 
many  other  adjectives. 

"  This  word,"  says  Todd,  "  was  formerly  written  slick ;  and  slick  or 
slicken  is  still  our  northern  word."     It  is  also  provincial  in  Kent,  while, 
in  other  parts  of  England,  the  verb  to  slick,  to  comb  or  make  sleek  the 
hair,  is  provincial-  —  Holloway's  Prov.  Diet. 
Her  flesh  tender  as  is  a  chicke, 

With  bent  browes,  smooth  and  slike.  —  Chaucer,  Rom.  of  the  Rose. 
That  the  bodie  thereof  is  not  all  over  smoothe  and  slicke  (as  we  see  in  birds'  eggs), 
is  shewed  by  good  arguments.  —  Holland,  Trans,  of  Pliny. 

The  railroad  company,  out  of  sheer  parsimony,  have  neglected  to  fence  in  their 
line,  which  goes  slick  through  the  centre  of  your  garden.  — Blackwood's  Mag.,  July, 
1847. 

But  you've  all  read  in  ^sop,  or  Phaedrus,  or  Gay, 
How  a  tortoise  and  hare  ran  together  one  day; 
How  the  hare,  making  play, 
"  Progress'd  right  slick  away," 
As  them  tarnation  chaps,  the  Americans,  say. 

Ingoldshy  Legends,  Vol.  I.  p.  241. 


SLI  415 

"Well !  one  comfort  is,  that  there  ain't  many  folks  to  see  how  bad  you  look  here  in 
the  woods  !  We  ain't  used  to  seein'  folks  look  so  dreadful  slick,  —  so  it  don't  mat- 
ter. —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  II 4. 

Then  here  's  to  women,  then  to  liquor ; 
There  's   nothing  swimmin'  can  be  slicker. 

Boatman's  Song, 

Singin'  is  a  science  which  comes  pretty  tough  at  first ;  but  it  goes  slick  afterwards. 
—  Peter  Cram  of  Tinnecum,  Knick.  Mag.,  1841. 

The  Senate  could  not  pass  Mr.  Stevenson  through  for  England.  The  reason  was, 
he  was  a-going  through  right  slick,  till  lie  came  to  his  coat  pockets,  and  they  were  so 
full  of  papers  written  by  Ritchie,  that  he  stuck  fust,  and  hung  by  the  flaps.  — 
Crockett,  Tour,  p.  120. 

I  've  hearn  tell  that  courtin'  is  the  hardest  thing  in  the  world  to  begin,  though  it  goes 
on  so  slick  arterwards.  —  Traits  of  American  Humor,  Vol.  II.  p.  18. 

Nobody  can  waltz  real  slick,  unless  they  have  the  spring-halt  in  one  leg,  as  horses 
sometimes  have.  — Dow's  Sermons. 

2.  A  smooth  place  in  the  water  where  fish  abound.     New  England. 

You  have  seen  on  the  surface  of  tlie  sea  those  smooth  places  which  fishermen  and 
sailors  call  slicks.  Our  boatman  said  they  were  caused  by  the  blue  fish  chopping  up 
their  prey  [the  menhaden],  and  that  the  oil  from  this  butchery,  rising  to  the  surface, 
makes  the  slick.  Whatever  the  cause  may  be,  we  always  found  fish  plenty  whenever 
we  came  to  a  slick.  —  Daniel  Webster,  Priv,  Cor.,  Vol.  II.  p.  332. 

Slick  as  a  Whistle.  A  proverbial  simile,  in  common  use  throughout 
the  United  States.  To  do  any  thing  as  slick  as  a  whistle,  is  to  do  it  very 
smoothly,  perfectly,  adroitly. 

You  know  I  told  you  in  my  last  letter  I  was  going  to  bring  Miss  Mary  up  to  the 
chalk  at  Cliristmas.  Well,  I  done  it  as  slick  as  a  whistle,  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship, 
p.  94. 

Slick  as  Grease.  Another  classical  expression,  conveying  the  same 
idea  as  the  foregoing ;  sometimes  varied  into  slick  as  He  (oil). 

To  Slick  up.     To  make  sleek  ;  to  make  fine. 

Mrs.  Flyer  was  slicked  up  for  the  occasion,  in  the  snuff-colored  silk  she  was  mar- 
ried in.  —  Mrs.  Clavers,  A  New  Home,  p.  211. 

The  house  was  all  slicked  up  as  neat  as  a  pin,  and  the  things  in  every  room  all  sot 
to  rights.  —  Maj.  Downing,  May  Day,  p.  43. 

The  caps  most  in  vogue  then  were  made  of  dark,  coarse,  knotted  twine,  like  a 
cabbage-net,  worn,  as  the  wives  said,  to  save  slicking  up,  and  to  hide  dirt.  —  Carlton, 
The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  72. 

To  Slide.     To  go,  be  gone,  be  off.     See  also  To  let  Slide,  p.  241. 
We  have  fought  the  field  together. 
We  have  struggled  side  by  side  ; 
Broken  is  the  band  that  held  us,  — 

We  must  cut  our  sticks  and  slide.  — R,  S.  Willis,  Student's  Song. 

Slimsy.     Flimsy ;  frail.     Most  frequently  applied  to  cotton  or  other  cloth. 


416  SLI— SLO 

The  building  is  old  and  slimsi/.  — Margaret,  p.  329, 

Sling.     A  drink  composed  of  equal  parts  of  rum  and  water  sweetened.  — 
Hush.      Gin-slings  are  more  commonly  drunk  now. 

To  Sling.     Sometimes  used  vulgarly  instead  of  to  swing. 

We  swung  round  the  wharf ;  and  when  the  captain  told  the  people  who  I  was, 
they  slung  their  hats  and  gave  three  cheers.  —  Crockett,  Tour  Down  East,  p.  37. 

Slink.     A  sneaking  fellow. 

I  despise  a  slink.  —  Chron.  of  Pineville,  p.  139. 

Slinky.     Thin ;  lank. 

Slip.     1.   The  opening  between  wharves  or  in  a  dock.  —  Webster. 

This  word  is  peculiar  to  New  York,  where  we  have  Peck  Slip,  Burling 
Slip,  Old  Slip,  Coenties  Slip,  etc. 

2.  In  New  England,  a  long  seat  or  narrow  pew  in  a  church.  —  Web- 
ster. When  there  is  a  door,  they  are  called  pews ;  when  without  doors, 
and  free  to  all,  slips.     This,  I  believe,  is  the  difference  between  them. 

3.  Milk  turned  with  rennet,  etc.,  before  the  whey  separates  from  the 
curd. 

Slip-gap.     See  Gap. 

Slip-slops.     Old  shoes  turned  down  at  the  heel.     Southern. 

The  terra  is  probably  English  ;  at  all  events,  a  loose  shoe  or  slipper  is 
called  a  slip-shoe  in  Norfolk. 

Slipe.     a  distance. 

Well,  I  've  got  a  long  slipe  off  from  my  steamboat,  the  Hunter ;  and  I  had  better 
look  up  the  captain.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  145. 

Slipper-Down.  A  vulgar  name  in  some  parts  of  Connecticut. for  hasty- 
pudding.     The  etymology  is  obvious. 

Sliver.  A  piece  of  any  substance,  as  wood  torn  or  split  off.  This  word 
is,  in  this  country,  commonly  pronounced  sliver ;  but  the  English  ortho- 
epists  all  pronounce  it  sliver.  —  Worcester. 

In  New  England  this  word  is  used  as  a  verb  as  well  as  a  noun. 
As  there  was  nothin'  else  to  get  hold  of,  I  just  slivered  a  great  big  bit  off  the  leg 
of  the  cliair,  and  made  a  tooth-pick  of  it.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England, 

To  Let  Sliver.     To  let  slip,  let  fly,  i.  e.  to  fire. 

Old  Yelp  smelled  the  bar ;  and  as  soon  as  I  clapped  peeper  on  him,  I  let  sliver, 
when  the  vai-mint  dropped.  — Rohb,  Squatter  Life 

Slope.     A  running  away,  elopement,  escape. 

Now  Sol  Wheelwright,  I  regret  to  say,  was  a  rowdy, 
Who  played  all-fours,  and  kept  late  hours  at  the  grog  shop. 


SLO— SLU  417 

And,  forgetting  his  debts  and  the  girl  he  had  just  got  engaged  to, 
He  left  Mudfog,  made  a  slope,  and  went  off  to  Texas. 

Ballad  of  Blonzelinda. 

To  Slope.     To  run  away.     A  common  vulgarism. 

As  the  officers  approached,  some  hid  themselves  in  their  ovens,  some  under  their 
beds  ;  but  a  majority  sloped  without  hats,  shoes,  or  coats.  — N.  Y.  Com.  Adv.,  Nov. 
3,1845. 

The  editor  of  the  Eagle  cannot  pay  his  board  bill,  and  fears  are  entertained  that 
he  will  slope  without  liquidating  the  debt,  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

The  constables  appeared  with  attachments  ;  each  person  interested  seized  his  own 
goods,  wliile  the  master  and  clerk  sloped  to  parts  unknown.  — Baltimore  Patriot,  July 
10,  1846. 

Tlie  instant  an  English  mob  sees  two  dragoons  coming,  they  jist  run  like  a  flock 
of  sheep  afore  a  couple  of  bull-dogs,  and  slope  off,  properly  skeered.  —  Sam  Slick  in 
England,  ch.  27. 

Sloshing  about.  A  "Western  term,  which  is  said  to  have  been  thus  ex- 
plained by  a  witness  who  was  testifying  in  court  relative  to  a  row. 

"  Come,  witness,  what  had  Mr.  Saltonstall  to  do  with  the  affair  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  've  told  you,  they  clinched  and  paired  off,  but  Saltonstall  he  jest  kept 
sloshin'  about." 

"  That  is  n't  legal  evidence,  my  good  fellow,  in  the  shape  you  put  it.  Tell  us 
what  you  mean  by  sloshin'  about." 

"  I  '11  try,"  answered  the  witness.  "  You  see  Brewer  and  Sykes  clinched  and 
fout.     That 's  in  a  legal  form,  ain't  it  1 " 

"  Oh  yes  !  "  said  the  judge,  "  go  on," 

"  Abney  and  Blackman  then  pitched  into  one  another,  and  Blackman  bit  off  a 
piece  of  Abney's  lip,  —  that 's  legal  too,  ain't  it  1 " 

"Proceed!" 

"  Simpson,  and  Bill  Stones,  and  Murry  was  all  together  on  the  ground,  a  bitin*, 
gougin',  and  kickin'  one  another,  —  that 's  legal  too,  is  it  ?  " 

"  Very  !  but  go  on." 

"  And  Saltonstall  made  it  his  business  to  walk  backward  and  forward  through  the 
crowd,  with  a  big  stick  in  his  hand,  and  knock  down  ^ery  loose  man  in  the  crowd. 
That's  what  I  call  sloshin'  about." —  Cairo  {Illinois)  Times,  Nov.  1854. 

Slump.  A  favorite  dish  in  New  England,  called  an  apple  slump,  is  made 
by  placing  raised  bread  or  dough  around  the  sides  of  an  iron  pot,  which 
is  then  filled  with  apples  and  sweetened  with  molasses.  It  is  also  called 
Apple  Pot-Pie,  or  Pandowdy ;  and  in  Pennsylvania,  an  Apple  Cobbler. 

Slung  Shot.  An  offensive  weapon  formed  of  two  leaden  or  iron  bullets 
fastened  together  by  a  piece  of  rope  five  or  six  inches  long.  One  bullet 
is  held  in  the  hand,  while  the  other  hangs  outside  by  the  rope,  which 
passes  between  the  second  and  third  fingers.  A  blow  from  it  on  the  head 
will  fell  the  strongest  man.     It  is  also  called  a  Billy. 

About  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  two  men  entered  the  store  of  C.  J.  Jansen  & 
Co.,  and,  professing  to  be  purchasers,  asked  to  see  some  blankets.    Mr.  Jansen, 


418  SLU  — SMA 

who  was  alone  in  the  store,  was  in  the  act  of  producing  the  articles,  when  he  was 
violently  struck  with  a  slung  shot,  and  fell  insensible  on  the  floor.  —  Annals  of  San 
Francisco,  p.  314. 

Slunk.  Produced  iramaturely,  as  the  young  of  a  beast ;  slink.  This  form 
of  the  word  is  also  used  in  the  eastern  counties  of  England. 

A  butcher  in  Cincinnati  was  arrested  for  killing  a  dog,  dressing  it  like  mutton, 
and  offering  it  for  sale.  Two  witnesses  testified  before  the  court  that  they  had 
known  the  prisoner  to  purchase  a  slunk  calf  three  days  old,  and  oflfer  its  meat  for 
sale.  —  Newspaper. 

Small  Potatoes.  An  epithet  applied  to  persons  or  things,  and  signify- 
ing petty,  mean,  contemptible ;  as,  "  He  is  very  s?naU  potatoes."  Small 
potatoes,  except  for  the  feeding  of  hogs  and  cattle,  are  worthless  ;  hence 
the  expression  as  applied  to  men.  It  is  sometimes  put  into  the  more 
emphatic  form  of  small  potatoes  and  few  in  a  hill. 

It 's  small  potatoes  for  a  man-of-war  to  be  hunting  poor  game  like  us  little  fore- 
and-aft  vessels.  —  S.  Slick,  Nature  and  Human  Nature,  p.  38. 

I  took  to  attendin'  Baptist  mcetin' ;  because  the  Presbyterian  minister  here  is  such 
small  potatoes,  that 't  want  edifyin'  to  sit  under  his  preachin'.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers, 
p.  188. 

Give  me  an  honest  old  soldier  for  the  Presidency  —  whether  a  Whig  or  Democrat 
—  and  I  will  leave  your  small  potato  politicians  and  petty  fogging  lawyers  to  those 
who  are  willing  to  submit  the  destiny  of  this  great  nation  to  such  hands.  — N.  Y. 
Herald,  Dec.  13,  1846. 

Smart.  1.  Quick,  active ;  keen,  shrewd,  intelligent.  Ex.  "  That 's  a  smart, 
lively  lad  of  yours ; "  "  He  is  a  smart  business  man."  These  are  the 
senses  in  which  the  word  is  most  commonly  used  in  this  country  ;  while 
in  England  it  now  usually  has  the  meaning  of  showy  or  witty. 

I  say  stranger,  that 's  a  powerful  smart  looking  chunk  of  a  pony  you  've  got 
atwixt  your  legs  thar  ;  but  ponies  is  mighty  onsartin.  — A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas. 
New  Haven,  with  its  shady  elms. 

And  Hartford,  with  its  charter,  — 
Connecticut,  my  native  State  ! 
Say,  can  you  find  a  smarter  ?  —  Allin.     Home  Ballads. 
I  expect  we  free  bom  Americans  is  the  smartest  people  under  the  sun  ;  we  do  know 
a  heap  —  that  is,  some  on  us  —  but  we  might  know  a  cord  more  ef  we  warnt  too 
powerful  smart  to  learn. — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

2.  In  the  South  and  West  the  word  is  frequently  used  (as  it  also  is  in 
the  east  of  England)  in  the  sense  of  considerable  ;  and  especially  in  such 
phrases  as  "  right  smart,"  "  smart  chance,"  "  smart  sprinkle,"  etc. 

Smart  Chance.  1.  A  good  opportunity ;  a  fair  chance.  A  vulgar  ex- 
pression. 

He  has  a  smart  chance  of  getting  a  better  cliaracter.  —  S.  Slick  in  England,  ch.  IX. 
Says  I,  "  Friend  Wolfe,"  for  I  seed  there  was  a  smart  chance  of  a  row,  "  play  I 
won't."— A?.  Slick,  Sd  Ser.,  p.  117. 


SMA  419 

2.  A  good  deal ;  a  large  quantity.  A  smart  chance  of  any  thing 
means  a  considerable  quantity  ;  quite  a  smart  chance,  or  a  right  smart 
chance,  means  more  ;  and  a  mighty  smart  chance  is  the  superlative,  and 
means  a  very  large  quantity.  These  singular  expressions,  used  in  the 
Southern  and  Western  States,  are  never  heard  in  the  Eastern.  Right 
smart  is  often  used  alone  ;  as,  "  We  have  had  fine  weather  this  season, 
and  I  've  right  smart  of  peaches,"  or  "  right  smart  peaches."       ^  - 

"  There 's  a  smart  chance  of  cigars  there  in  the  bar,  stranger,  if  you  'II  try  some 
of  them,"  said  one  of  the  Hoosiers. —  Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West. 

We  had  a  "  smart  chance "  of  snow  on  Thursday ;  it  fell  during  the  day  to  the 
depth  of  two  inches,  which  makes  a  considerable  snow-storm  in  this  part  of  the 
world. —  Wilmington,  N.  C,  Commercial,  Dec.  10. 

I  thought  of  the  new  wagon  that  we  wanted,  and  such  a  smart  chance  of  other 
things  about  the  farm.  —  Simms,  The  Wigivam  and  Cabin,  p.  85. 
How  is  the  old  woman  and  the  boys  1 

Considerable  sassy,  only  thar  's  been  a  smart  chance  of  ague  down  in  our  neck  of 
the  woods. — A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas. 

I  don't  pretend  to  say,  stranger,  what  sort  of  cattle  you  have  in  your  country ;  but 
I  reckon  there 's  a  right  smart  chance  of  self-conceit  among  you  Yankees.  —  Letter 
from  the  South,  N.  Y.  Journ.  of  Com. 

A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  in  giving  the  pecu- 
liarities of  diction  prevalent  near  Galena,  in  Illinois,  says : 

If  you  should  go  into  the  house  where  the  ladies  are  making  a  fine  quilt,  and  say 
to  them,  "Ladies,  you  are  making  a  fine  quilt,"  they  would  reply,  "Yes,  but  it 
takes  a  heap  of  truck  and  right  smart  thread." 

Smart  Piece.     A  good  bit ;  a  considerable  time. 

The  first  time,  stranger,  that  I  ever  see  Charley  Birkham  was  a  smart  piece  ago — 
nigh  on  to  a  year  or  so  arter  I  left  up  thar  in  Tennessee,  whar  I  was  raised.  —  N. 
Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Smart  Sprinkle.  A  good  deal ;  a  good  many.  Used  in  the  interior  of 
the  Western  States. 

In  answer  to  some  querj-  about  snakes,  our  landlord  said  there  was  a  smart  sprin- 
kle of  rattlesnakes  on  Red  Run,  and  a  powerful  nice  day  to  sun  themselves. — 
Carlton,  The. New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  85. 

I  had  n't  sot  more  'n  a  minit  when  I  heerd  a  snort,  and  a  roar,  and  a  growl,  and  a 
right  smart  sprinklin'  of  fixst  travellin',  all  mixed  up  together.  —  Western  Tale, 
Smoking  a  Grizzly  Bear. 

It  is  too  late  for  me  to  commence  plainin'  my  language,  though  I  once  had  a 
pretty  smart  sprinklin'  of  lamin' ;  but  I  have  always  thought  when  I  was  young  I 
collapsed  a  flue,  and  a  right  smart  chance  of  it  leaked  out.  —  Tale  of  the  Berkshire 
Pig. 

Smartness.     Shrewdness  ;  keenness  in  a  trade. 

It  is  a  great  error  to  suppose  that  the  New  England  States  continue  to  deserve 
their  character  for  "  smartness."  Their  day  is  past.  Wooden  nutmegs  and  bass- 
wood  hams  were  well  enough  some  years  ago ;  but  that  sort  of  business  at  best  was 


420  SMA  — SMU 

beneath  the  dignity  of  rascals  who  "  po  in  "  for  their  hundreds  of  thousands,  and 
whose  operations  ruin  households  instead  of  merely  giving  them  indigestion.  The 
keen  fellows  now  live  in  the  West.  —  New  York  Herald,  Sept.  11,  1857. 

Smasher.  A  low  word  denoting  any  thing  very  large  or  grand  of  the  kind. 
It  is  of  English  origin. 

Put  up  your  benefit  for  that  night ;  and  if  you  don't  have  a  smasher,  with  at  least 
six  wreaths,  say  I  don't  understand  managing  the  theatres.  — Field,  Drama  at  Poker- 
ville. 

Them  's  the  right  kind  o'  parties,  where  there  are  married  folks  and  young  folks 
together.  Mrs.  Knight  is  going  to  give  such  a  one,  a  regular  smasher,  and  she 's 
able  to  do  it.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers, 

Smear-Case.  (Dutch,  smeer-kaas.)  A  preparation  of  milk  made  to  be 
spread  on  bread,  whence  its  name  ;  otherwise  called  Cottage-Cheese.  In 
New  York  it  is  called  Pot-cheese. 

Smile.     A  drink,  dram.     A  cant  word  of  recent  introduction. 

A  sturdy  young  German,  with  a  buxom  lass  of  recent  importation,  called  upon  an 
alderman  to  be  married.  .  .  .  When  the  ceremony  had  been  performed,  the  alder- 
man smiled  upon  the  twain  ;  and  thereupon  the  "  crowd  "  was  invited  into  the  Fifth 
Ward  Hotel,  and  one  general  smile  entirely  absorbed  the  fee.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Jan. 
31,  1855. 

Smiling.     Drinking,  tippling. 

A  writer  from  the  "White  Sulphur  Springs  says : 

Last  night  a  young  man  here  was  borne  to  another  world  on  the  wings  of  spirits 
—  that  is,  died  of  viania-a-potu.  Another  impetuous  youth  is  said  to  have  dosed 
himself  with  too  much  morphine,  through  the  effects  of  too  much  love  or  folly. 
They  say,  too,  he  is  dead.  There  are  many  more  fast  boys  about  —  some  devoted 
to  the  sex  —  some  to  horses  —  some  to  "smiling,"  and  some  to  "the  tiger."  — 
(Bait.)  Sun,  Aug.  23,  1858. 

Smooth.     A  meadow,  or  grass  field. 

Get  some  plantain  and  dandelion  on  the  smooth  for  greens.  —  Margaret. 

To  Smouch.     To  gouge ;  to  take  unfair  advantage.     Colloquial  in  New 

York. 
To  Smouze.     To  demolish,  as  with  a  blow.     Used  in  Ohio. 

Smudge.  A  heap  of  damp  combustibles  placed  on  the  windward  side  of 
the  house  and  partially  ignited,  that  the  inky  steam  may  smother  or  drive 
away  mosquitoes.     It  is  a  North  of  England  word. 

We  had  taken  about  ten  pounds  of  trout ;  and  the  first  procedure,  after  reaching 
the  camp,  was  to  build  a  smudge  or  smoke-fire,  to  drive  away  these  abominable 
gnats,  who,  fortunately,  take  flight  with  the  first  whifi"  of  smoke.  —  N.  Y.  Courier 
and  Enquirer. 

I  have  had  a  smudge  made  in  a  chafing-dish  at  my  bedside,  after  a  serious  deliber- 
ation between  choking  and  being  devoured  at  small  mouthfuls  ;  and  I  conscientious- 
ly recommend  choking.  —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life. 


SNA  421 

Snag.  A  tree  having  its  roots  fastened  in  the  bottom  of  a  river;  or  a 
branch  of  a  tree  thus  fastened.  These  are  common  in  the  Mississippi 
and  Missouri  Rivers,  and  frequently  destroy  steamboats  which  come  in 
contact  with  them,  by  piercing  their  bows  or  sides.  The  word  itself  is 
not  a  new  one,  and  is  defined  by  Johnson  as  "  a  jag  or  sharp  protube- 
rance." 

Thar  war  jest  light  enough  as  we  floated  down  the  Missouri  to  tell  that  snags  war 
plenty,  and  jest  enough  com-juice  inside  to  make  a  fellar  not  care  a  cuss  for  them.  — 
The  Americans  at  Home,  Vol.  I.  p.  278. 

To  Snag.     To  run  against  a  snag  or  projecting  branch  of  a  sunken  tree. 

Drove  a  pretty  fair  business  last  year ;  only  sunk  one  broad-horn,  and  that  war 
snagged  in  the  Mississippi.  —  Ben.  Wilson's  Jug  Race. 

To  Snake,  1.  To  crawl  like  a  snake.  A  common  expression  at  the 
West.  The  following  illustration  of  the  use  of  this  term  is  from  a  West- 
ern newspaper : 

In  Iowa,  as  in  other  new  countries,  the  duties  of  a  judge  often  begin  before  a 
court-house  or  place  of  shelter  has  been  provided.  Not  long  since,  Judge  Williams 
was  obliged  to  hold  his  first  coui-t  beneath  the  shade  of  a  large  tree,  where  logs  were 
rolled  up  for  seats,  a  larger  one  being  provided  for  the  Judge.  The  clerk  used  a 
shingle  on  his  knee  for  a  desk  ;  and  the  jury,  after  being  charged  by  the  judge,  Avere 
sent  in  care  of  a  sheriff  to  a  hollow,  or  ravine,  where  they  could  sit  in  conclave  be- 
yond the  view  of  the  court  or  spectators. 

The  grass  grew  very  tall  in  the  neighborhood,  and  the  jurymen  lay  down  in  a  ring 
in  the  grass,  where  they  could  more  perfectly  exclude  themselves  from  observation. 
The  jury  had  not  been  long  in  their  quarters,  when  a  tall,  raw-boned  fellow  rose  up 
and  addressed  the  Judge  as  follows  : 

"  May  it  please  yoiu"  honor,  I  w  ish  to  speak  to  you."  "  Order,  sir ;  what  is  it  1  " 
"  Judge,"  continued  he,  with  the  utmost  gravity,  "  is  it  right  for  fellows  to  snake  in 
the  grass  ?  "  "  How  1  what  is  that,  sir  1  "  "  Why,  you  see,"  said  the  Yankee, 
"  there  's  some  fellows  who  's  tarnal  fraid  the  Grand  Jury  will  find  something  agia 
'em,  which  they  desarve ;  and  they  are  snaking  up  to  the  Grand  Jurj'  on  their  bellies 
in  the  grass,  kind  of  trying  to  hear  what  the  jury  are  talking  about."  "  No,"  re- 
sponded the  judge,  with  as  much  gravity  as  he  could  command,  "  I  do  not  allow  of 
snaking.  Here,  Mr.  Sheriff,  go  station  a  guard  around  each  jury's  hollow  ;  and  if  a 
man  is  found  '  snaking,'  have  liim  brought  before  me,  and  I  will  cause  him  to  be 
punished." 

But  while  I  drink'd  the  peaceful  cup  of  a  pure  heart  and  mind 

(Mixed  Avith  some  whiskey,  now  and  then).  Pomp  he  snaked  up  behind. 

And,  creepin'  gradually  close  to,  as  sly  as  any  mink. 

Jest  grabbed  my  leg,  and  then  pulled  foot  quicker  than  you  could  wink. 

Biglow  Papers. 
2.   To  beat ;  to  thrash.     Southern; 

Any  gal  like  me,  what  can  take  a  bag  of  meal  on  her  shoulder  and  tote  it  to  mill, 
ought  to  be  able  to  snake  any  man  of  her  heft.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  120. 

To  Snake  out.  To  drag  out;  to  haul  out,  as  a  snake  from  its  hole.  A 
farmer,  in  clearing  land,  attaches  a  chain  to  a  stump  or  log,  whereby  to 

36 


422  SNA 

draw  it  out ;  this  he  calls  snaking  it  out.  Maj.  Downing  says,  in  speak- 
ing of  a  person  who  fell  into  the  river  : 

We  snaked  him  out  of  that  scrape  as  slick  as  a  whistle.  — Letters,  p.  14. 

I  went  down  again  and  found  the  cow  as  dead  as  a  herrin'.  We  skinned  her  and 
snaked  her  out  of  the  bam  upon  the  snow.  — Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  March,  1848. 

Snake-Head.  An  object  of  dread  to  travellers  on  the  early  railways.  It 
consisted  of  the  end  of  a  flat  iron  rail,  which  was  sometimes  thrown  up 
in  front  of  the  car  wheels,  and  passed  through  the  cars.  Serious  acci- 
dents have  been  caused  by  them.  This  species  of  rail,  however,  is  no 
longer  used,  except  for  temporary  purposes. 

The  road  to  Petersburg  consists  of  an  iron  strap  laid  upon  pine  timber,  and  is 
beautifully  diversified  with  that  peculiar  half  horizontal,  vibrating  rail,  known  as 
"  snake's  head."  Frequently,  during  our  short  ride,  an  iron  snake  would  strike  his 
heavy  head  against  the  iron  fendei-s  of  our  car ;  and  then,  as  we  rolled  on  unharmed, 
he  would  shake  himself  as  if  in  wrath,  awaiting  another  opportunity  for  vengeance. 
—  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

Snake-Root.  Many  plants  have  obtained  a  reputation  as  cures  for  the 
poison  of  the  rattlesnake ;  and  while  none  of  them  have  retained  their 
character  in  this  respect,  the  really  active  properties  which  brought  them 
into  notice  have  obtained  for  some  of  them  a  place  in  our  Materia  Medica. 
Among  the  best  known  and  most  important  are  Black  snahe-root  (  Cimici- 
fuga  racemosa),  Virginia  snake-root  (^Aristolochia  serpentaria),  and  Sen- 
eca snake-root  {Polygala  senega).  Other  species  of  these  genera  are 
sometimes  known  as  snake-roots. 

Snap.  Applied  to  the  weather  ;  as,  '*■  a  cold  snap,"  i.  e.  a  period  of  sudden 
cold  weather.     A  common  expression. 

Snap-Beans,  or  Snaps.     See  Bush-Bean. 

Snapped.     Drunk.     Used  at  the  South. 

I  like  to  forgot  to  tell  you  'bout  cousin  Pete.  He  got  snapt  on  egg-nog  when  he 
heard  of  my  engagement.  —  Major  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  102. 

Snapping  Turtle.  (Genus,  Chelonura.)  A  reptile  common  to  all  parts 
of  the  United  States,  so  named  from  its  propensity  to  snap  at  every  thing 
within  its  reach. 

Snarl.  1.  A  quarrel;  an  angry  contest.  Provincial  in  England,  and  col- 
loquial in  the  United  States.  —  Worcester. 

This  gallant  officer  and  estimable  man  [Sir  John  Harvey]  has  been  transferred 
from  Nova  Scotia  to  Newfoundland,  where  Lord  Falkland  had  got  into  a  snarl.  — 
Com.  Adv.,  April  1,  1846. 

The  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  got  themselves  into  a  most  admi- 
rable snarl  on  Saturday  afternoon,  by  their  proceedings  in  reference  to  the  recent 
case  of  resistance  to  the  serving  of  a  habeas  corpus  writ.  —  Boston  Traveller,  Feb. 
12. 


SNE  — SNO  423 

2.   A  brood ;  a  tribe. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Scrantum,  having  expressed  a  wish  to  withdraw  from  his 
parish  in  consequence  of  the  insufficiency  of  his  salary,  which  was  four 
hundred  dollars  a  year  with  a  "  donation  party,"  one  of  his  miserly  par- 
ishioners said : 

He  hoped  Mr.  Scrantum's  request  would  be  granted  ;  that  for  his  part  he  'd  long 
been  of  opinion  they  'd  ought  to  have  a  cheaper  minister,  and  one  that  had  n't  such 
a  snarl  of  young  ones.  — Widoiv  Bedott  Papers,  p.  270. 

Sneaking  Notion.  To  have  a  sneaking  notion  for  a  lady,  is  to  have  a 
timid  or  concealed  affection  for  her. 

"Well,  I  always  used  to  have  a  sort  of  a  sneahin'  notion  for  Mary  Stallins.  —  Maj. 
Jones's  Courtship,  p.  11. 

I  e'en  a  most  made  up  my  mind  to  break  the  ice  to  Hannah  Downer,  and  tell  her 
I  should  n't  wonder  if  I  had  a  sneakin'  notion  arter  her  —  then  I  should  ha'  been 
reg'lar  courtin'  in  less  than  a  month.  —  Traits  of  American  Humor,  Vol.  II. 
An  army  such  as  me  would  fright  the  devil  — 
What  arc  ye  giggling  at  ?     Can't  ye  be  civil  ? 
There  —  that 's  well  done  ;  now  I  've  a  sneaking  notion  — 
When  I  git  hum  —  I  '11  git  some  grand  promotion. 

D.  Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  England,  p.  102. 

To  BE  Sneezed  at.  A  thing  that  is  not  to  he  sneezed  at  is  not  to  be 
despised. 

My  knowledge  of  horse-flesh  ain't  to  he  sneezed  at.  I  buy  a  horse  for  fifty  dollars, 
and  sell  him  for  two  hundred  ;  that 's  skill  —  it  ain't  a  cheat.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human 
Nature,  p.  173. 

Sneezer.     A  dashing,  thorough-going  fellow. 

It 's  awful  to  hear  a  minister  swear ;  and  the  only  match  I  know  for  it  is  to  hear  a 
regular  sneezer  of  a  sinner  quote  Scripture.  —  Sam  Slick. 

Snell.     See  Leader. 

Snippy.  Finical ;  and  substantively,  a  finical  person.  A  woman's  word. 
In  the  South  they  use  the  word  sniptiotis. 

To  Snoop.  (Dutch,  snoepen.)  To  clandestinely  eat  dainties  or  other  vic- 
tuals which  have  been  put  aside.  A  servant  who  goes  slyly  into  a 
dairy-room  and  drinks  milk  from  a  pan,  or  a  child  who  makes  free  with 
the  preserves  in  the  cupboard,  is  said  to  be  snooping.  The  term  is  pecu- 
liar to  New  York. 

Snoozer.  a  thief  who  follows  the  business  of  robbing  the  boarders  at 
hotels.  He  takes  board  and  lodgings,  and  endeavors  to  share  a  room  and 
become  familiar  with  some  country  merchant ;  after  which,  by  various 
tricks,  he  succeeds  in  robbing  him.  The  police  reports  of  New  York 
exhibit  frequent  cases  of  this  system  of  depredation. 


4U  SNO  — SOA 

Snore.  (Dutch,  snoer,  a  string.)  A  string  with  a  button  on  one  end  to 
spin  a  top  with.     This  term  is  retained  bj  the  boys  of  New  York. 

To  Snore.  I  snore!  is  one  of  the  many  euphemistic  oaths  used  in  New 
England. 

I  hain't  lived  in  the  woods  to  be  skcered  at  owls,  I  snore.  — Margaret. 

To  Snort.  To  laugh  outright.  —  Brockett's  Glossary/.  Used  in  low  lan- 
guage in  New  England. 

We  all  snorted  and  snickered.  — Maj.  Downing' s  Letters,  p.  15. 

Snorter.     1.   A  dashing,  riotous  fellow.     A  vulgar  Western  term. 

"  I  'm  a  roaring  earthquake  in  a  fight,"  sung  out  one  of  the  half-horse,  half-alli- 
gator sort  of  fellows,  "  a  real  snorter  of  the  universe,  I  can  strike  as  hard  as  fourth- 
proof  lightning,  and  keep  it  up,  rough  and  tumble,  as  long  as  a  wild-cat."  —  Thorpe's 
Backwoods,  p.  183. 

2.  A  gale  of  wind. 

The  skipper  said,  after  we  have  had  our  grub  we  must  make  all  snug,  for  we  're 
going  to  have  a  snorter.  —  The  Cape  Ann  Fisherman. 

3.  The  edge  pieces  of  tortoise-shell,  called  also  toe-nails  or  nails. 

Snowball.     A  jeering  appellation  for  a  negro. 

Snuff-Dipper.    One  who  makes  a  practice  of  chewing  snuff.    See  To  Dip 

Snuff. 
Snug.     A  projection  or  shoulder  against  which  a  piece  fits,  in  machinery. 

To  Snug.  To  conceal  from  the  owner,  to  purloin.  English  boys  ijse  the 
word  smug  in  a  similar  sense. 

I  'd  rather  starve  than  make  money  in  any  low  way.  I  'd  stuff  watches,  drop 
pocket-books,  or  do  any  thing  in  the  genteel  way,  but  I  'd  never  condescend  to  snug 
dogs.  —  A  Glance  at  New  York. 

I  Snum  !     A  New  England  euphemism  for  I  swear  ! 
The  Yankee  boy,  with  starting  eyes. 
When  first  the  elephant  he  espies, 
With  wonder  snums,  and  swons,  and  cries, 

"  By  golly  !  "  —  Home  Journal, 

So  is  often  used  for  such;  an  old  form  of  speech  which  may  now  be  con- 
sidered antiquated. 

Prof  W ,  who  has  acquired  so  high  distinction  in  teaching  the  elements  of 

music  and  singing.  — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

To  Soak.  To  bake  thoroughly.  It  is  particularly  applied  to  bread  which, 
to  be  good,  must  be  macerated,  as  it  were,  in  the  caloric  of  the  oven.  If 
it  be  dough-baked,  the  complaint  is,  that  it  has  not  been  sufficiently  soaked. 
—  Holloway.     This  word  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in  New  England. 

SoAP-LocK.     A  lock  of  hair  made  to  lie  smooth  by  soaping  it.     Hence, 


SOA— SOC  425 

also,  a  name  given  to  a  low  set  of  fellows  who  lounge  about  the  markets, 
engine-houses,  and  Avharves  of  New  York,  and  are  always  ready  to  en- 
gage in  midnight  broils.  It  is,  in  fact,  but  another  name  for  a  Kowdy  or 
Loafer.  The  name  comes  from  their  wearing  long  side-locks,  which  they 
•  are  said  to  smear  with  soap,  in  order  to  give  them  a  sleek  appearance. 

The  way  my  last  letter  has  cradled  off  the  soap-locks,  and  imperials,  and  goat-knots, 
and  musty  shows,  is  truly  alarming.  — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship. 

Soap-Plant.  (^Chlorogalum  pomertdianum).  A  plant  common  in  Cali- 
fornia and  New  Mexico,  where  it  is  called  ammole,  and  which,  when 
pounded  and  broken,  answers  the  purposes  of  soap.  Besides  its  deter- 
gent quality,  the  leaves  are  used  for  making  mats  for  saddle  cloths. 

After  leaving  the  creek  we  passed  a  barren  rolling  prairie  with  scanty  herbage, 
and  covered  with  the  palmilla  or  soap-plant.  —  Ruxton's  Adv.  in  Mexico,  p.  217. 

Sobbed.  Soaked ;  wet.  Applied  to  lands.  An  English  word,  though  little 
used. 

The  high  lands  are  sobbed  and  boggy.  —  Letter  from  Charleston.    N.  Y.  Herald. 

SoCDOLAGER.  This  Strange  word  is  probably  a  perversion  in  spelling  and 
pronunciation  of  doxology,  a  stanza  sung  at  the  close  of  religious  services, 
and  as  a  signal  of  dismissal.  Hence  a  socdolager  is  a  conclusive  argu- 
ment ;  the  winding  up  of  a  debate  ;  a  settler ;  and  figuratively,  in  a  contest, 
a  heavy  blow,  which  shall  bring  it  to  a  close.  The  term  is  also  applied 
to  a  patent  fish-hook,  having  two  hooks  which  close  upon  each  other  by 
means  of  a  spring  as  soon  as  the  fish  bites,  thereby  securing  its  victim. 

In  his  remarks  on  an  excellent  move  at  a  game  of  chess,  the  editor  of 
the  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times  observes : 

"  This  is  a  socdolager  ;  there  is  not  even  temporary  relief  to  be  obtained ;  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  game  is  now  brought  to  a  conclusion  is  certainly  neat. 

I  gave  the  fellow  a  socdolager  over  his  head  with  the  barrel  of  my  gun,  when  he  sot 
off  as  if  the  devil  had  kick'd  him  on  eend.  —  Crockett's  Bear  Hunt. 

Oh !  I  forgot  to  tell  you,  that  in  the  fight,  as  I  aimed  a  socdolager  at  the  fellow,  ho 
ducked  his  head,  and  hitting  him  awkwardly,  I  sprained  my  wrist.  —  Col.  Jones's 
FigM.     A  Kentucky  Story. 

Socialistic.     Appertaining  to  the  principles  of  socialism. 

And  now  let  us  briefly  assure  the  Courier  that  it  is  greatly,  grievously  wrong  in 
supposing  that  we  shrink,  or  falter,  or  despond  with  regard  to  the  future  of  France, 
in  view  of  the  prominence  and  imminence  given  to  social  theories  and  ideas  by  the 
new  Revolution.  On  the  contrary,  our  columns  will  bear  witness  that  we  have,  from 
the  hour  that  the  fall  of  Louis  Philippe  ^vas  known  here,  to  this  moment,  profoundly 
rejoiced  in  the  Revolution  itself,  and  more  especially  in  its  socialistic  aspects  and  ten- 
dencies.—  N.  Y.  Tribune,  April  25,  1848. 

Society.  In  Connecticut,  a  number  of  families  united  and  incorporated 
for  the  purpose  of  supporting  public  worship  is  called  a«  eeclesioMical  so- 

36* 


426  SOC  — SOF 

ciety.  This  is  a  parish,  except  that  it  has  not  territorial  limits.  In  Mas- 
sachusetts such  an  incorporated  society  is  usually  called  a  "parish," 
though  consisting  of  persons  only,  without  regard  to  territory.  —  Webster. 

To  Sock.  To  press  by  a  hard  blow  a  man's  hat  over  his  head  and  face. 
Used  in  Rhode  Island.  I  have  never  heard  it  elsewhere.  The  New 
York  term  is,  to  crown. 

Soda-Prairie.  A  plain  covered  with  an  efflorescence  of  soda,  elsewhere 
called  natron.  These  plains,  of  great  extent,  are  found  in  New  Mexico, 
Texas,  and  Arizona. 

-Soft  Corn.  Flattery.  The  more  common  terms  are  "  soft  sawder  "  and 
"  soft  soap,"  which  see. 

I  allowed  that  the  old  man  was  pretty  green,  or  he  'd  never  swallowed  all  the  soft- 
corn  I  fed  him  on. — Maj.  Bunkum.     Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Soft  Sawder,  i.  e.  soft  solder.     Flattery ;  blarney. 

Sam  Slick  said  he  trusted  to  soft  sawder  to  get  his  wooden  clocks  into  a  house, 
and  to  human  nature  that  they  should  never  come  out  again.  — Nature  and  Human 
Nature,  p.  311. 

To  Soft  Sawder.     To  flatter ;  to  blarney. 

I  don't  like  to  be  left  alone  with  a  gall ;  it 's  plaguy  apt  to  set  me  a  sojl  sawderin' 
and  a  courtin'.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  p.  19. 

Soft-Shell  Crab,  or  Soft-Crab.     See  Shedder  Crab. 

Soft-Shell  Democrats,  Soft-Shells,  or  Softs.  The  less  conserva- 
tive division  of  the  New  York  Democrats.     See  Hard-shell  Democrats. 

At  a  Democratic  meeting  in  the  county  of  Orleans,  N.  Y.,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1858,  it  was : 

ResolveA,  —  That  the  terms  Hunker,  Barnburner,  Soft-shell,  and  Hardshell,  have 
become  obsolete,  and  hereafter  we  will  be  known  only  by  the  term  Democrat ;  and 
that  we  will  regard  all  as  such  who  are  sound  upon  national  politics,  and  adhere  to 
the  usages  of  the  party. 

Soft  Soav.  Flattery ;  blarney.  A  vulgar  phrase,  though  much  used. 
See  Soft  sawder. 

To  Soft  Soap.     To  flatter;  to  blarney. 

I  am  tired  of  this  system  of  placemen  sojl  soaping  the  people,  — telling  them  just 
before  an  election  what  fine,  honest,  noble,  generous  fellows  they  arc,  and  then,  just 
after  election,  turning  their  backs  on  them.  — Mike  Walsh.     Speech,  Sept.  1843. 

My  popularity  with  the  ladies  was  amazin'.  Te  see  them  flattering  and  soft  soap- 
ing me  all  at  once,  you  would  have  sworn  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  pick  and  choose- 
—  McClintock's  Tales. 


SOF  — SOM  427 

You  don't  catch  mc  a  slanderiii'  folks  bcliind  their  backs,  and  then  sqfl  soapirC 
them  to  tlieir  faces. —  Widoiv  Bedott  Papers,  p.  308. 

Soft  "Woodlands.  A  term  applied,  in  the  British  Provinces,  to  the  dis- 
tricts or  intervals  covered  with  various  species  of  pine  trees. 

Some.  1.  Somewhat ;  something.  Ex.  "  He  is  sortze  better  than  he  was ; " 
" it  rains  some"  etc.  Used  chietiy  by  the  illiterate.  —  Pickering's  Vocab- 
ulary. 

2.  Of  some  account ;  considerable ;  notable ;  famous.  A  modern  slang 
use  of  the  word. 

A  mere  glance  would  tell  the  gazer  that  this  gentleman  was  no  ordinary  man, 
either  in  a  physical  or  mental  point  of  view ;  as  an  ancient  Roman  poet  used  elegantly 
to  express  it,  it  at  once  became  evident  that  he  was  "some." — N.  Orleans  Delta. 

I  do  not  know  whether  you  have  any  canebrakes  at  the  North  ;  but  our  Georgia 
cancbrakes  are  some,  I  can  tell  you.  —  Lett,  from  Georgia,  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

When  a  boy,  our  ti-apper  was  "some,"  he  said,  with  the  rifle,  and  always  had  a 
hankering  for  the  West.  —  Ruxton.     Far  West,  p.  54. 

Wo  don't  remember  a  closer  or  severer  winter  since  that  in  which  the  old  Trib- 
une office  burnt  down,  which  was  admitted  by  the  oldest  inhabitant  to  be  "some"  in" 
the  way  of  cold  winters.  —  iV.  Y.  Tribune,  May  15,  1849. 

Hiram  Twine  was  a  good  specimen  of  a  go-ahead  Yankee.  He  was  some  on 
horses,  numerous  at  billiards,  immense  at  ten  pins,  and  upwards  of  considerable 
among  the  politicians. — Knickerbocker  Mag.,  March,  1856. 

Some  Pumpkins.  A  terra  in  use,  at  the  South  and  West,  in  opposition 
to  the  equally  elegant  phrase  "  small  potatoes."  The  former  is  applied 
to  any  thing  large  or  noble ;  the  latter  to  any  thing  small  or  mean. 

A  writer  in  the  "  Pennsylvanian,"  under  date  of  Nov.  15,  1849,  thus 
explains  its  origin : 

"  I  am  not  aware  of  the  saying  being  incorporated  into  any  play  extant, 
although  it  can  claim  an  existence  of  neai'ly  sixty  years.  It  originated 
with  James  Fennell,  the  celebrated  tragedian,  who  came  to  this  country  in 
the  year  '92.  As  the  circumstance  Avhich  gave  rise  to  it  is  somewhat 
singular,  I  take  the  extract  from  his  life,  published  in  the  year  1814, 
which  gave  birth  to  an  expression  that  has  now  become  a  part  and  por- 
tion of  our  polite,  and  I  may  say  new,  style  of  conversation.  When  quite 
a  lad,  Fennell,  in  company  with  Dr.  Mosely,  and  the  celebrated  philoso- 
pher Mr.  Walker,  and  son,  made  the  tour  of  France.  Speaking  of  this 
portion  of  the  journey,  the  author  says  : 

'  I  recollect  nothing  of  consequence  that  took  place,  till  we  arrived  at  the  celebrat- 
ed city  of  Rouen.  Physic  and  philosophy  had,  from  their  situation  in  front,  a  wide 
share  of  vision ;  but  young  Walker  and  myself  could  only  look  down.  Wishing, 
however,  to  see  all  we  could,  we  kept  peeping  through  our  little  windows.    As  we 


428  SO  M— SOP 

were  passing,  without  our  [the  young  ones]  knowing  it,  the  famous  Cathedral  of 

Rouen,  young  Walker, peeping  tlirough  his  little  square,  exclaimed,  "Look,  Fennell, 

what  immense  pumpkins."  His  father,  who  had  been  attentively  gazing  at  the  building, 

turned  round,  exclaiming,  "  God !  can  you  be  looking  at  pumpkins,  while  you  are 

passing  such  a  cathedral  as  this  ? "     Young  Walker  observed  that  he  did  not  know 

what  he  was  passing,  for  he  could  see  nothing  above  the  ground.' 

"  Young  Fennell  could   not  resist  the  temptation  of  plaguing  Walker 

about  the  pumpkins  ;  so,  whenever  they  approached  a  stately  building  or 

tOAvering  spire,  he  would  invariably  exclaim,  '  Look,  Walker,  there  are 

"  some  pumpkins  !  " '     It  is  almost  needless  to  say  it  became  a  favorite,  if 

not  a  common  saying,  as  it  is  to  this  day." 

This  story  is  sufficiently  circumstantial,  and  the  origin  it  assigns  may 
be  the  true  one ;  yet  the  stress  which  is  always  laid  on  the  "some  "  in 
this  phrase  shows  that  it  has  the  purely  adjectival  sense  which  we  have 
ascribed  to  the  word  under  number  two,  whereas  the  anecdote  gives  it  its 
usual  pronominal  meaning. 

Although  the  Mexican  women  are  not  distinguished  for  beauty,  I  never  remember 
once  to  have  seen  an  ugly  woman.  Tlieir  brilliant  eyes  make  up  for  any  deficiency 
of  feature,  and  their  figures  are  full  and  voluptuous.  Now  and  then,  moreover,  one 
does  meet  with  a  perfectly  beautiful  creature  ;  and  when  a  Mexican  woman  does 
combine  such  perfection,  she  is  "  some  pumpkins,"  as  the  Missourians  say  when  they 
wish  to  express  something  superlative  in  the  female  line.  —  Ruxton's  Adventures  in 
Mexico,  p.  57. 

Cass  is  some  pumpkins,  and  will  do  the  needful  in  the  ofl[ice  line  if  he  is  elected, 
which  I  hope  and  trast  will  be  liis  fate.  I  am  no  Democrat,  as  embraced  on  their 
wliole  platform  ;  but  I  am,  what  I  conceive  to  be,  a  "  least  evil "  man.  —  N.  Y.  Her- 
ald, June  21,  1848. 

Tranklin  was  a  poor  printer  boy,  and  Washington  only  a  land  surveyor ;  yet  they 
growed  to  be  some  pumpkins.  —  S.  Slick,  Nature  and  Human  Nature. 
I  'm  out  of  my  cradle,  I  'm  safe  through  my  teens, 
I  guess  I  'm  "some pumpkins,"  and  think  I  know  beans ; 
Henceforth  I  'm  to  battle,  with  banner  unfurled. 
And  carve  my  way  thi-ough  a  thundering  rough  world.  —  Doestichs. 

SOMEWHERES,  like  anywhercs  and  nowheres,  is  a  common  vulgarism  ;  as 
"  A  hundred  dollars,  or  somewheres  there  along,"  i.  e.  thereabouts. 

Soon.  At  the  South  this  word  is  frequently  used  by  all  classes  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  early.  Thus  one  says,  if  about  to  depart  on  a  journey,  "  I  shall 
put  out  (i.  e.  start)  soon  in  the  morning."  "  I  shall  be  there  soon  in  the 
evening." 

Soph.  In  the  American  colleges  an  abbreviation  of  Sophomore.  —  HaWs 
College  Words. 

Sophs  wha  ha'  in  commons  fed  ! 
Sophs  wha  ha'  in  commons  bled ! 
Sophs  wha  ne'er  from  commons  fled  ! 

Puddings,  steaks,  or  wines  !  —  Rebelliad,  p.  52. 


SOP  — SOT  429 

Sophomore.  This  word  has  generally  been  considered  an  American  bar- 
barism, but  was  probably  introduced  into  our  country  at  a  very  early 
period  from  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England.  Among  the  cant 
terms  at  that  University,  as  given  in  the  "  Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam,"  we 
find  Soph-Mor  as  the  next  distinctive  appellation  to  Freshman.  It  is 
added,  that  a  writer  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  thinks  Mor  an  abbre- 
viation of  the  Greek  [loiQia,  introduced  at  a  time  when  the  Encomium 
Morice,  the  Praise  of  Folly,  by  Ei'asmus,  was  so  generally  used.  The 
ordinary  derivation  of  the  word,  from  aoqiog  and  [icoQog,  would  seem, 
therefore,  to  be  incorrect.  The  young  Sophs  at  Cambridge  appear  for- 
merly to  have  received  the  adjunct  mor,  [XMQog,  to  their  names,  either  as 
one  they  courted  for  the  reason  mentioned  above,  or  as  one  given  them  in 
sport  for  the  supposed  exhibition  of  inflated  feeling  in  entering  upon  their 
new  honors.  The  term  thus  applied  seems  to  have  passed  at  a  very 
early  period  from  Cambridge  in  England  to  Cambridge  in  America,  as 
the  next  distinctive  appellation  to  Freshmen,  and  thus  to  have  been 
attached  to  the  second  of  the  four  classes  in  our  American  colleges,  while 
it  has  now  almost  ceased  to  be  known,  even  as  a  cant  word,  at  the  parent 
institution  in  England  from  whence  it  came.  —  P/'of.  Goodrich,  in  Web- 
ster's Dictionary. 

SOPHOMORICAL.  A  term  applied  to  speeches  and  writings  containing  high- 
sounding  words  and  but  little  sense. 

SoRA,  or  SoREE.  i^Rallus  carolinas.)  The  Carolina  rail,  a  bird  which 
assembles  in  large  numbers  on  the  reedy  shores  of  the  larger  rivers  in 
the  middle  and  adjoining  warmer  States,  at  the  approach  of  autumn,  and 
affords  abundant  employment  to  the  sportsman  at  that  season.  —  Nuttall. 

Sorrel-Tree.     See  Soxir  Wood. 

Sorter,  for  sort  o\     Sort  of,  kind  of. 

They  had  with  them  a  long-legged  chap,  a  sorter  lawyer ;  and  he  advised  them  to 
try  and  get  the  time  of  punishment  put  off,  and  that  would  give  'era  a  chance  to 
run  them  oflf".  —  Spirit  of  the  Times, 

Sossle,  or  SozzLE.  A  lazy  or  sluttish  woman.  Connecticut.  In  the 
South  of  England  soss-hrangle  is  used  in  the  same  sense. 

To  Sossle,  or  Sozzle.  To  splash.  Connecticut.  In  Sussex,  England, 
it  means  to  make  a  slop. 

A  sandpiper  glided  along  the  shore ;  she  ran  after  it,  but  could  not  catch  it ;  she 
sat  down  and  sozzled  her  feet  in  the  foam.  —  Margaret,  p.  8. 

Sot.  1.  A  corrupt  pronunciation  of  the  past  tense  or  past  participle  of 
to  set. 


430  SOU  — SPA 

I  wish  Seth  would  talk  with  you  sometime,  Doctor.  Along  in  the  spring  he  was 
down  helpin'  me  to  lay  stone  fence,  —  it  was  when  we  was  fencin'  off  the  south 
pastur'  lot,  —  and  we  talked  pretty  nigh  all  day ;  and  it  re'lly  did  seem  to  me  that 
the  longer  we  talked,  the  sotter  Seth  grew.  —  Atlantic  Monthly,  Jan.,  1859. 

2.  A  vulgar  pronunciation  for  sat. 

A  story  is  told  of  a  Bostonian's  first  appearance  in  polite  society  in  Arkansas. 
The  company  were  engaged  in  dancing,  but  the  loveliest  female  present  occupied  a 
chair  at  the  window  without  a  partner.  Stepping  up  to  the  lady  with  a  palpitating 
heart,  his  mind  greatly  excited  for  fear  of  a  refusal,  he  exclaimed : 

"  Will  you  do  me  the  honor  to  grace  me  with  your  company  for  the  next  set  1 " 

Her  lustrous  eyes  shone  with  unwonted  brilliancy,  her  white  pearly  teeth  fairly 
glistened  in  the  flickering  candle  light,  her  heaving  snowy  bosom  rose  and  fell  with 
joyful  rapture,  as  she  replied  : 

"  Yes,  sir-ee  !  for  I  have  sot,  and  sot,  and  sot,  till  I  have  about  tuk  root !  "  —  Eve. 
(Wash.)  Star,  Sept.  2,  1858. 

Sound  on  the  Goose.  A  phrase  originating  in  the  Kansas  troubles, 
and  signifying  true  to  the  cause  of  slavery. 

Sour  Gum.     A  species  of  Nyssa.     See  Gum. 

Sour  Krout.  (Germ,  sauer  Kraut.)  Sour  cabbage,  that  is,  cabbage 
cut  fine,  pressed  into  a  cask,  and  suffered  to  ferment  until  it  becomes 
sour. 

The  Dutch  burghers  were  ordered  not  to  buy  [of  the  Yankees]  any  of  their 
Weathersfield  onions,  wooden  bowls,  etc.,  and  to  furnish  them  with  no  supplies  of 
gin,  gingerbread,  or  sour  krout.  —  Knickerbocker's  New  York. 

Sour  Wood.  (Andromeda  arborea.)  A  beautiful  tree,  which,  from  the 
large  quantity  of  acid  present  in  all  parts  of  it,  is  sometimes  called  Sor- 
rel tree. 

South.  The  term  Southern  States,  or  the  South,  is  very  commonly  used 
to  denote  all  the  States  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  in  which  slavery 
exists.     See  North. 

South  Americans.  That  branch  of  the  American  or  Know-Nothing 
party  which  belongs  to  the  South  and  favors  slavery. 

Southerner,  or  Southron.    A  native  of  the  Southern  States. 

Spake.  The  preterite  of  speak.  This  antiquated  word  is  still  heard  occa- 
sionally from  the  pulpit,  as  well  as  in  conversation.  —  Pickering. 

Span.  A  span  of  horses  consists  of  two  of  nearly  the  same  color,  and 
otherwistj  nearly  alike,  which  are  usually  harnessed  side  by  side.  The 
word  signifies  properly  the  same  as  "  yoke,"  when  applied  to  horned  cattle, 
from  buckling  or  fastening  together.  But  in  America,  span  always  implies 
resemblance  in  color  at  least ;  it  being  an  object  of  ambition  with  gentle- 


SPA— SPA  431 

men  and  with  teamsters  to  unite  two  horses  abreast  that  are  alike.  — 
Webster.  This  use  of  the  word  is  not  mentioned  in  any  of  tlie  Enghsh 
dictionaries  or  glossaries. 

To  Span.  To  agree  in  color,  or  in  color  and  size ;  as,  "  The  horses  span 
well."     New  England.  —  Webster. 

Span  Clean,  or  Spandy  Clean.     Very  clean,  perfectly  clean. 

To  Spang  EL.  1.  To  tie  the  hind  legs  of  an  animal,  particularly  a  cow 
when  milking.     Provincial  in  England. 

2.   To  prevent  a  crab  from  biting,  by  sticking  the  point  of  a  leg  into 
the  base  of  each  movable  claw. 

Spanish  Bayonet.  A  name  commonly  given  to  the  very  sharp-pointed, 
rigid  leaves  of  a  species  of  Yucca  growing  in  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and 
Arizona. 

The  cactus  growing  rank,  tortuous,  and  grotesquely,  and  the  yucca,  or  Spanish 
bayonet,  here  a  low  clump  of  sharp-pointed,  stiff,  tusk-like  leaves,  indicated  our  ap- 
proach to  Mexico.  —  Olmsted's  Texas,  p.  138. 

To  Spark  it.     To  court.     Used  chiefly  in  New  England. 

You  were  a  nation  sight  wiser  than  brother  Jonathan,  sister  Keziah,  poor  little 
Aminadab,  and  all  the  rest ;  and  above  all,  my  owny  towny  Lydia,  the  Deacon's 
darlin  darter;  with  whom  I've  sparked  j'/, pretty  oftentimes,  so  late. — D.  Humphreys, 
The  Yankee  in  England. 

Miss  Sal,  I 's  going  to  say,  as  how. 

We  '11  spark  it  here  to  night ; 
I  kind  of  love  you  Sal,  I  vow. 
And  mother  said  I  might. 

J.  G.  Fessenden.     Song,  Yankee  Doodle. 
Some  think  I  ought  to  get  married,  and  two  or  three  have  tried  to  spark  it  with 
me  ;  but  I  never  listen  to  none  of  their  flattery.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  120. 

Sparking.  "  To  go  a  sparking,"  is  to  go  a  courting ;  a  common  expres- 
sion in  the  Northern  States. 

Mr.  Justice  Crow  was  soon  overtaken ;  Lieut.  Col.  Simcoe  accosted  him  roughly, 
called  him  "  Tory,"  nor  seemed  to  believe  his  excuses,  when,  in  the  American 
idiom  for  courtship,  he  said,  "  he  had  only  been  sparking."  —  Simcoe,  Military  Jour- 
nal, p.  73. 

He  rolled  his  eyes  horribly,  and  said  that  that  was  the  way  the  young  men  cast 
sheep's  eyes  when  they  went  a  sparking.  — Mrs.  Clavers's  WesterTi  Clearings,  p.  16. 
She's  courted  been,  by  many  a  lad, 

And  knows  ho%y  sparking 's  done,  sir, 
With  Jonathan  she  was  right  glad. 

To  have  a  little  fun,  sir. — Song.    Yankee  Doodle. 
Finally  I  swore  that  if  I  ever  meddled,  or  had  any  dealings  with  the  feminine  gen- 
der again,  in  the  sparAnne?  line,  I  wish  I  might  be  hanged.  —  McClintock.    Beadle's 
Courtship. 


432  SPA  — SPE 

Sparse.  (Lat.  sparsus).  Scattered ;  thinly  spread ;  not  dense.  —  {P.  Mag.) 
This  word  has  been  regarded  as  of  American  origin  ;  but  it  is  found  in 
Jamieson's  Dictionary  of  the  Scottish  Language.  It  is  in  common  use  in 
America,  though  little  used  in  England.  —  Worcester. 

Sparsely.     In  a  scattered,  or  sparse  manner  ;  thinly.  —  Worcester. 

Tlie  country  between  Trinity  river  and  the  Mississippi  is  sparsely  settled,  contain- 
ing less  than  one  inhabitant  to  the  square  mile,  one  in  four  being  a  slave.  —  Olmsted's 
Texas,  p.  365. 

Sparrow  Grass.  A  vulgar  pronunciation  of  asparagus  both  in  England 
and  America,  sometimes  in  the  New  York  market  contracted  to  "  grass." 
Hence  the  celebrated  charade  by  a  certain  alderman  : 

My  first  is  a  little  thing  vot  hops  —  (sparrotv) ; 

My  second  brings  us  good  hay  crops  —  (grass) ; 

My  whole  I  eats  with  mutton  chops  —  {sparrow  grass). 

Pegge,  Anecdotes  of  the  Eng.  Lang.,  p.  54. 

Spat.     1.  A  slap.     "  He  gave  me  a  sped  on  the  side  of  the  head." 

2.  A  petty  combat ;  a  little  quarrel  or  dissension.     A  vulgar  use  of 
the  word  in  New  England.  —  Webster. 

Tiie  National  Bank  and  the  Mechanic's  Banking  Association  have  had  a  star»ding 
spat  for  some  time.  —  N.  Y.  Com.  Adv. 

We  do  not  believe  that  Messrs.  B and  W have  resigned  their  seats  in 

the  cabinet.  There  has  been  a  spat  of  course  ;  but  there  may  be  many  more  before 
either  of  the  Secretaries  will  resign  $6,000  a  year.  — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

To  Spat.     1.  To  slap. 

The  little  Isabel  leaped  np  an<I  down,  spatting  her  hands.  —  Margaret. 

2.  To  dispute  ;  to  quarrel.     A  low  word.     New  England. 

Spec.     A  contraction  of  speculation ;  as,  "  He  made  a  good  spec  in  flour." 

Special  Deposit.  A  deposit  made  in  a  bank  subject  to  the  control  of  the 
depositor,  and  which  is  not  made  a  part  of  the  funds  of  the  bank  to  be 
used  by  it  in  its  business. 

Special  Partner.  A  member  of  a  limited  partnership,  who  furnishes 
certain  funds  to  the  common  stock,  and  whose  liability  extends  no  fur- 
ther than  the  funds  furnished.  —  Kent's  Commentaries,  Vol.  III.  p.  35. 

Special  Partnership.  A  partnership  limited  to  a  particular  branch  of 
business,  or  to  one  particular  subject. — Judge  Story. 

Specie,  for  a  species.  A  grammatical  blunder  occasionally  heard  in  speak- 
ing, but  not  often  met  with  in  writing.  The  New  York  Tribune,  how- 
ever, of  May  19,  1858,  in  describing  a  new  game-trap,  says  : 


S  P  E  433 

The  size  of  the  trap,  the  height  at  which  it  ought  to  be  suspended,  and  the  nature 
of  the  bait,  depends  upon  the  specie  of  the  animal  hunted  for. 

Speck,  or  Spec.    A  bit ;  in  the  least. 

I  doubled  up  my  fist,  for  I  did  not  like  the  treatment  a  spec.  —  S,  Slick  in  Eng- 
land, ch.  2.  » 

Speck  and  Applejees.  (Dutch,  spek  en  appeltjes.)  Pork  fat  and  ap- 
ples cut  up  and  cooked  together.  An  old-fashioned  Dutch  dish  still  made 
in  New  York. 

Specs,  for  spectacles. 

My  ma'  was  used  to  put  on  her  specs  and  say, .  —  Neal's  Charcoal  Sketches. 

Spell.  A  turn  of  work ;  a  vicissitude  of  labor.  —  Todd's  Johnson.  It  is 
often  used  in  a  secondary  sense,  to  denote  a  short  turn  ;  a  little  time ;  a 
bout ;  a  fit ;  and  is  applied  particularly  to  work,  to  sickness,  or  to  the 
weather.     Provincial  in  England  and  colloquial  in  the  United  States. 

Their  toil  is  so  extreme  as  they  cannot  endure  it  above  four  hours  in  a  day,  but 
are  succeeded  by  spells;  the  residue  of  their  time  they  wear  out  at  coytes  and  kayles. 
—  Carew. 

Come,  thou's  had  thy  spell,  it 's  now  my  time  to  put  in  a  word. —  Carr's  Craven 
Glossary. 

This  spell  of  bad  weather,  thougli  in  summer,  wellnigh  outlasted  their  provisions  ; 
and  when  at  lengtli  they  were  able  to  make  tlie  signal  that  a  landing  would  bo 
practicable,  scarcely  a  twenty-four  hours'  stock  remained  on  the  rock.  — Lond.  Quar- 
terly Rev.,  No.  168,  p.  379. 

Nothing  new  has  happened  in  this  quarter  since  my  last,  except  the  setting  in  of  a 
severe  spell  of  cold  weather  and  a  considerable  fall  of  snow.  — Letter  of  G.  Washing- 
ton, Dec.  25,  1775. 

A  gentle,  misty  air  from  the  S.  E,  makes  me  hope  that  we  are  going  to  have  a 
warm  spdl.  — Kane,  Arctic  Explorations,  VoL  I.  p,  182. 

Josiah  Norton  said  he  had  come  home  from  the  South,  where  he  had  been  peddling 
a  spell.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  90. 

Spain  has  obtained  a  breathing  spell  of  some  duration  from  the  internal  convul- 
sions which  have,  through  so  many  years,  marred  her  prosperity.  — President  Tyler's 
Message  to  Congress,  1844. 

I  and  the  General  have  got  things  now  pretty  considerable  snug  ;  public  affairs  go 
on  easier  than  they  did  a  spell  ago,  when  Mr.  Adams  was  President. — Maj.  Down- 
ing's  Letters,  p.  35. 

The  Havana  "  Prenaa "  notices  a  remarkable  incident  as  one  of  the  results  of  the 
shock  from  the  recent  terrible  explosion.  No  less  than  the  restoration  to  reason  of  a 
lady  of  that  city,  who  had  entirely  lost  her  mind  some  six  months  ago,  from  a  severe 
and  protracted  spell  of  sickness.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Oct.  19,  1858. 

To  Spell.     To  relieve  by  taking  a  turn  at  a  piece  of  work.  —  Worcester. 

I  was  sometimes  permitted,  as  an  indulgence,  to  speU  my  father  in  the  favorite  em- 
ployment of  shelling  corn.  —  Goodrich's  Recollections,  Vol.  I.  p.  62. 

37 


434  S  P  I 

Spice-Bush.  {Benzoin  odoriferum).  A  plant,  called  also  Wild  Allspice 
and  Fever-bush,  formerly  used  as  a  substitute  for  allspice,  and  also  val- 
ued for  its  medicinal  properties. 

This  tangled  thicket  on  the  bank  above 

Thy  basin,  how  thy  watery  keep  it  green ! 

there  the  spice-bush  lifts 

Her  leafy  lances.  —  Bryant,  The  Fountain, 

Spider.     A  cast-iron  frying-pan  with  three  legs. 

Spike-Team.  A  wagon  drawn  by  three  horses,  or  by  two  oxen  and  a 
horse,  the  latter  leading  the  oxen  or  span  of  horses. 

Spill.  A  strip  of  paper  rolled  up  to  light  a  lamp  or  a  cigar.  Provincial  in 
England. 

Spindle  City.  Lowell,  Massachusetts ;  so  cajled  from  its  many  cotton 
factories. 

A  letter  from  Lowell  says  the  "  spindle  city  "  is  gradually  resuming  its  steady 
hum  of  industry  and  wonted  business-like  appearance.  —  Scientific  American,  Jan. 
23,  1858. 

To   Spin  Street-tarn.     To  go  gadding  about  the  streets. 

They  say  when  Sally  Hugle  aint  a  spinnin'  street-yarn,  she  don't  do  nothin'  but 
write  poetry,  and  the  whole  heft  o'  the  housc-keepin'  is  on  her  mother's  shoulders. — 
Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  149. 

Spirit-Land.  An  expression  which,  in  the  cant  of  the  rappers,  means  the 
abode  of  departed  spirits,  the  other  world. 

Spirit-Rapper.  A  person,  who,  professing  to  act  as  a  "  medium,"  between 
embodied  and  disembodied  spirits,  interprets  raps  produced  by  an  unseen 
agency  on  tables,  floors,  &c.,  as  messages  from  the  other  world. 

Spirit-Rappings.  Rappings  suppose  to  be  produced  by  disembodied 
spirits. 

Spiritual.    A  Mormon  concubine.     See  Spiritual  Wife. 

Spiritual  Funeral.  A  funeral  conducted  after  the  fashion  of  the  believ- 
ers in  spiritualism. 

A  spiritual  funeral  was  held  at  Lowell  lately,  over  the  remains  of  J.  B.  Smith. 
Miss  Emma  Houston  prayed,  and  the  dead  Smith  spoke  throiigh  her.  The  wife 
and  family  of  the  deceased,  instead  of  putting  on  black,  dressed  in  white,  with  white 
shawls,  and  bonnets  trimmed  -with  white.  — (Bait.)  Sun.,  July  12,  1858. 

Spiritual  Medium.     See  Medium. 

Spiritual  Wife,  or  simply  Spiritual.  A  Mormon  extra  wife  or  concu- 
bine. 


SPI— SPL  435 

These  extra  wives  are  known  by  sundry  designations ;  some  call  them  "  spirit- 
uals," others  "sealed  ones  ;"  our  landlady  is  fond  of  calling  them  "fixins,"  and  the 
tone  in  which  she  brings  it  out  is  in  the  last  degree  contemptuous. — Lije  among  the 
Mormons,  Putnam's  Mag.,  Vol.  VI.  p.  147. 

Spiritualism.  The  old  doctrine,  revived  of  late  years  in  this  country,  and 
which  has  gained  numerous  converts,  that  the  spirits  of  the  departed  can 
and  do  communicate  with  the  living  through  the  so  called  "  spiritual 
mediums." 

Spiritualist.     A  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  spiritualism. 

Spit-Curl.  A  detached  lock  of  hair  curled  upon  the  temple  ;  probably 
from  having  been  at  first  plastered  into  shape  by  the  saliva.  It  is  now 
understood  that  the  mucilage  of  quince-seed  is  used  by  the  ladies  for 
this  purpose. 

You  may  prate  of  your  lips,  and  your  teeth  of  pearl, 
And  your  eyes  so  brightly  flashing ; 
My  song  shall  be  of  that  saliva  curl 
Which  threatens  my  heart  to  smash  in. 

Boston  Transcript,  Oct.  30,  1858. 

Splendiferous.     Splendid ;  fine.     A  factitious  word  used  only  in  jest. 

To  my  mind,  a  splendiferous  woman  and  a  first  chop  horse  are  the  noblest  works 
of  creation.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  280. 

There's  something  so  fascinating  in  the  first  blush  of  evening,  that  it 's  enough 
to  make  a  man  strip  off  liis  jacket  of  mortality,  and  swim  the  gulf  of  death,  for  the  sake 
of  reaching  the  splendiferous  splendors  that  decorate  the  opposite  shore.  — Dow's  Ser- 
mons.  Vol.  I.  p.  69. 

An  itinerant  gospeller  was  holding  forth  to  a  Kentuckian  audience,  on 
the  kingdom  of  heaven : 

"  Heaven,  my  beloved  hearers,"  said  he,  "  is  a  glorious,  a  beautiful,  a  splendiferous, 
an  angeliferous  place.  Eye  hath  not  seen,  ear  hath  not  heard,  it  has  not  entered  into 
the  imagination  of  any  Cracker  in  these  here  diggings  what  carryings  on  the  just 
made  perfect  have  up  thar." 

Split.  1.  A  division ;  dissension.  A  word  in  current  use,  both  in  Eng- 
land and  in  this  country,  although  not  yet  in  the  dictionaries. 

The  fiery  spirit  which  has  occasioned  a  split  among  the  British  Archaeologists, 
would  appear  not  yet  to  have  burnt  itself  out,  etc.  —  London  Athenoeum,  p.  850. 

The  split  in  the  Whig  organization,  if  it  come  to  any  thing  serious,  will  extend  be- 
yond the  Presidential  election. — Letter  from  Boston,  New  York  Herald,  June  21, 
1848. 

2.  A  rapid  pace  or  rate  of  going.  " He  went  full  split"  i.  e.  as  hard 
as  he  could  drive.  "  To  go  like  split,"  is  a  common  expression  in  New 
England. 

There  was  no  ox-teams  [in  New  York]  such  as  we  have  in  Downingville  ;  but 
there  was  no  end  to  tlie  one-hoss  teams,  goin'  like  split  all  over  the  city.  — Maj. 
Downing,  May-day  in  New  York,  p.  64. 


436  SPL  — SPO 

To  Split.     To  go  at  a  rapid  pace ;  to  drive,  or  dash  along. 

The  thing  tuk  first  rate,  and  I  set  the  niggers  a  drummin'  and  fifin'  as  hard  as 
they  could  split  right  afore  the  cabin  door.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship. 

Split-Ticket.  When  two  or  more  important  offices  are  to  be  filled  at 
the  same  time,  the  wire-pullers  of  each  party  select  the  men  they  wish 
their  party  to  support,  and  print  their  names  on  a  ticket  to  be  deposited 
in  the  ballot-box.  It  sometimes  happens,  however,  that  individuals  choose 
to  think  for  themselves,  and  consequently  erase  one  or  more  of  the  names 
and  substitute  others  more  to  their  liking.  This  is  called  a  split  ticket, 
also  a  scratch  ticket. 

Splurge.     A  blustering  demonstration  ;  a  swagger,  dash. 

Members  of  Congi-css  should  not  forget  wlien  senator  Benton  was  shinning  ai'ound, 
making  what  they  call  in  Missouri  a  great  splurge,  to  get  gold.  — N.  Y,  Com.  Adv., 
Dec.  13,  1845. 

President  Polk  and  the  Loco-Poco  party  have  been  for  some  time  past  arduously 
engaged  upon  a  work  known  as  "  Mexico  in  Slices."  The  first  slice,  "  Texas," 
caused  quite  a  sensation ;  the  second,  California  and  iSTew  Mexico,  is  now  making 
a  splurge ;  and  the  third,  "  The  Sierra  Madre,"  is  under  way.  —  Philadelphia  North 
American. 

Did  you  see  Major  Coon's  wife  when  she  came  in  ?  Did  n't  she  cut  a  splurge?  I 
never  did  see  such  an  afi'ected  critter  as  she  in  all  my  born  days.  —  Widow  Bedott 
Papers,  p.  67. 

To  Splurge.  To  make  a  blustering  demonstration  in  order  to  produce  an 
effect ;  to  swagger,  cut  a  dash.  A  term  in  common  use  at  the  South  and 
West. 

Cousin  Pete  was  thar  splurgin  about  in  the  biggest,  with  his  dandy-cut  trowsers  and 
big  whiskers. — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  101, 

Well,  them  was  great  times,  but  now  the  settlements  is  got  too  thick  for  them  to 
splurge.  — Porta-' s  Tales  of  the  South- West,  p.  54. 

Spoils,  i.  e.  the  spoils  of  office.  The  pay  and  emoluments  of  official  station, 
specifically  referred  to  as  the  leading  inducements  to  partisan  activity, 
and  as  distinct  from  political  zeal  generally. 

It  lias  been  asserted  that  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils.  Let  us  determine  that 
we  will  be  the  victors,  and  that  if  we  must  have  the  spoils  they  shall  be  appropriated 
to  the  good  of  the  country.  —  Speech  of  Hon.  Mr.  Morehead,  June,  1848. 

Men  looking  to  the  spoils  care  not  for  principles,  whether  they  be  of  the  North  or 
of  tlie  South. —  Washington  Cor.  of  N.  Y.  Com.  Adv. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  at  least  sixty  thousand  office-holders  under  the  general 
administration,  and  that  the  amount  of  plunder  annually  distributed  by  government 
is  equal  to  forty  millions  of  dollars,  whicii  is  expended  in  a  tliousand  and  one  ways. 
The  party  which  has  the  command  of  tliesc  office-holders,  and  the  scattering  of  this 
vast  amount  oi  spoils,  is  possessed  of  a  potent  weapon.  —  N.  Y.  Herald,  June,  1848. 


SPO  — SPR  437 

Politics  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  race  for  a  purse,  a  game  for  the  stakes,  a 
battle  for  the  spoils.  — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  216. 

Spook.  (Dutch).  A  ghost ;  hobgoblin.  A  term  much  used  in  New 
York.  This  word  has  been  adopted  by  the  English  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope. 

At  one  time  I  met  the  spook  in  the  fonn  of  a  very  tall  black  man,  accompanied  by 
a  large  dog.  —  Anderssen's  South  Africa. 

Spoon.  "  To  do  business  with  a  big  spoon"  is  the  same  as  to  cut  a  big 
swathe. 

Spoopsie.     a  silly  fellow ;  a  noodle.     New  England. 

Sportsman.     A  term  often  applied  to  a  gambler. 

Sposen.     a  corrupt  pronunciation  of  supposing. 

Sposh.  a  mixture  of  mud  and  water.  See  Slush.  The  New  York  Tri- 
bune, in  speaking  of  the  falling  of  rain  and  snow  at  the  same  time,  adds : 

The  morning  was  blue  and  streaked,  and  the  streets  were  one  shining  level  of 
black  sposh.  —  Nov.  25,  1845. 

Spot.  A  boatman  on  the  Mississippi,  being  asked  how  he  managed  to  se- 
cure sleeping  time,  answered,  "  I  sleep  in  spots  ;  "  that  is,  at  intervals,  by 
snatches. 

To  Spot.  1.  To  mark  a  tree  by  cutting  a  chip  from  its  side.  Maine. 
See  Blaze.        . 

2.  A  term  used  by  policemen  for  marking  or  identifying  a  thief  or 
other  suspected  person.  It  is  of  recent  origin,  and  is  also  used  in  Eng- 
land. 

It  is  the  business  of  all  policemen,  but  more  especially  of  detectives,  to  "  spot " 
burglars,  thieves,  gamblers,  and  all  violators  of  the  law.  —  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

The  five  pickpockets  whose  names  are  given  were  detained  in  the  cells  all  night, 
and  were  yesterday  taken  to  the  Deputy's  oflSce,  where  they  were  "  shown  up,"  so 
that  they  might  be  again  "  spotted."  They  were  then  told  to  go,  and  they  went  in 
a  great  state  of  indignation.  —  New  York  Times. 

Spoutt.  Wet  clay  land  is  called  in  the  West- "  spouty  land,"  possibly  be- 
cause, when  trodden  upon,  the  water  spouts  up  through  any  holes  or 
depressions  in  the  surface. 

Spread.  A  bed-spread ;  a  sort  of  day  covering  over  the  quilt.  New 
England. 

To  Spread  oneself.     To  exert  oneself. 

We  despatched  Cullen  to  prepare  a  dinner.  He  had  promised,  to  use  his  own 
expression,  to  spread  himself  in  the  preparation  of  this  meal.  —  Hammond,  Wild 
Northern  Scenes,  p.  266. 

37* 


438  S  P  R 

Hoss  Allen  [the  judge]  mounted  the  balcony  of  the  hotel,  and,  rolling  up  his 
sleeves,  spread  himsdf  for  an  unusually  brilliant  effort.  —  Southern  Sketches. 

Spread  Eagle.  This  term  is  frequently  used  among  stock  speculators. 
A  broker,  satisfied  with  small  profits,  and  not  disposed  to  involve  himself 
in  large  transactions,  sells,  say  one  hundred  shares  Erie  Railroad  stock 
at  fifty-eight,  buyer  sixty  days,  and  at  the  same  time  buys  the  same  quan- 
tity at  fifty-seven,  seller  sixty  days.  The  difference  in  this  case  in  the 
price  is  one  per  cent.,  which  would  be  so  much  profit,  without  any  outlay 
of  capital,  provided  both  contracts  run  their  full  time.  Having  sold  buy- 
er's option  sixty  days,  and  bought  seller's  option  sixty  days,  the  time  is 
equal ;  but  it  will  be  §een  that  he  does  not  control  the  option  in  either 
case.  The  buyer  can  call  when  he  pleases,  which  will  compel  the 
"  spread  eagle  "  oi^erator  to  deliver ;  and  the  seller  may  deliver  any  time, 
which  would  compel  the  broker  to  receive.  If  he  has  capital  to  carry, 
the  result  would  not  differ  from  that  anticipated ;  but  if  not,  he  may  be 
caught  in  a  tight  place,  and  suffer  serious  losses.  It  is,  on  the  whole, 
rather  dangerous  business,  but  not  to  the  same  extent  as  buying  or  selling 
on  time  for  a  rise  or  fall  in  market  value.  —  Hunt's  Merchants'  Mag., 
Vol.  XXXVII. 

Spread-eagle  Style.  A  compound  of  exaggeration,  effrontery,  bom- 
bast, and  extravagance,  mixed  metaphors,  platitudes,  defiant  threats 
thrown  at  the  world,  and  irreverent  appeals  flung  at  the  Supreme  Being. 
—  North  American  Review,  October,  1858. 

To  Spree  it.     To  get  intoxicated. 

If  a  young  man  creates  his  own  ruination  by  going  it  loose  and  spreeing  it  tight,  it 
is  surely  a  disgrace.  — Dow's  Sermons. 

Spring  Fever.  The  listless  feeling  caused  by  the  first  sudden  increase  of 
temperature  in  spring.  It  is  often  said  of  a  lazy  fellow,  "  He  has  got  the 
spring  fever." 

Sprixg-Keeper.  a  salamander,  or  small  lizard-shaped  animal,  found  in 
springs  and  fresh  water  rivulets,  whence  the  name.     See  Water-dogs. 

Sprouts.  A  bunch  of  twigs.  Hence,  "  to  put  one  through  a  course  of 
sprouts"  is  to  give  him  a  good  drubbing. 

Shepard,  Morrissey's  trainer,  has  taken  up  his  quarters  at  the  house  of  his  very 
particular  old  friend,  Australian  Kelly,  where  he  will  doubtless  be  happy  to  see  any 
gentlemen  who  want  to  be  put  through  tlie  necessary  course  of  preliminary  sprouts  be- 
fore they  can  win  the  laurels  of  the  P.  R.  [prize  ring]. — N.  Y.  Tribune,  Nov.  1, 
1858. 

Sprung.     Tipsy,  intoxicated. 

He  reckoned  they  were  a  little  bit  sprung. — Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  87. 


SPR— SQU  439 

Spry.     Lively  ;  active  ;  nimble  ;  quick  in  action.  —  Worcester. 

This  word  is  much  used  in  familiar  language  in  New  England.  It  is 
not  in  the  English  dictionaries,  but  Jennings  notices  it  among  the  provin- 
cialisms of  Somersetshire. 

She  is  as  spry  as  a  cricket.  —  Margaret,  p.  58. 

"  How  are  you,  Jeremiah  ?  "  "  Wliy,  I  'm  kinder  sorter  middlin',  Mr.  Slick,  what 
you  call  considerable  nimble  and  spry." — Sam  Slick. 

Know  ye  the  land  where  the  sinking  sun 
Sees  the  last  of  earth  when  the  day  is  done ; 
Where  yellow  Asia,  withered  and  dry, 
Hears  Young  America,  sharp  and  spiy, 
With  thumb  in  his  vest,  and  a  quizzical  leer. 
Sing  out,  "  Old  Fogie,  come  over  here ! " 

Cozzens,  Califomian  Ballad. 

Spunk.  Mettle  ;  spirit ;  vivacity.  —  Brocketfs  Glossary.  A  colloquial 
word,  considered  in  England  extremely  vulgar.     See  Punk. 

I  admire  your  independent  spirit,  Doolittle.  I  like  to  have  people  think  well  of 
themselves.  You  have  convinced  me  of  your  spunk.  I  am  your  friend. — Z>. 
Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  England. 

Spunky.  Mettlesome ;  spirited ;  vivacious.  A  colloquial  word,  which 
Forby  mentions  as  provincial  in  Norfolk,  England. 

Squaddy.  Short  and  fat.  A  vulgar  word  formed  from  squat ;  or  perhaps 
a  corruption  of  squabby. 

I  had  hardly  got  seated,  when  in  came  a  great  stout,  fat,  squaddy  woman.  —  Maj. 
Downing,  May  Day, 

To  Squale.  To  throw  a  stick  or  other  thing  with  violence,  and  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  skims  along  near  the  ground.  New  England.  —  Picker- 
ing's Vocabulary. 

According  to  Grose,  it  is  provincial  in  the  West  of  England,  and 
means,  "  to  throw  a  stick,  as  at  a  cock." 

Squantum.  The  name  of  a  species  of  fun  known  to  the  Nantucket  folks, 
which  is  thus  described  by  the  New  York  Mirror :  A  party  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  go  to  one  of  the  famous  watering-places  of  resort,  where  they 
fish,  dig  clams,  talk,  laugh,  sing,  dance,  play,  bathe,  sail,  eat,  and  have  a 
general  "good  time."  The  food  generally  consists  of  chowder,  baked 
clams,  and  fun.  No  one  is  admitted  to  the  sacred  circle  who  will  take 
offence  at  a  joke,  and  every  one  is  expected  to  do  his  and  her  part  to- 
wards creating  a  general  laugh.  Any  man  who  speaks  of  business  affairs 
(excepting  matrimony)  is  immediately  reproved,  and  on  a  second  offence 
publicly  chastised.  Care  is  thrown  to  the  wind,  politics  discarded,  war 
ignored,  pride  humbled,  stations  levelled,  wealth  scorned,  virtue  exalted, 
and  —  this  is  "  squantum." 


UO  S  Q  U 

I  wish  to  all-fired  smash  I  was  to  home,  doin'  chores  about  house,  or  hazin'  round 
with  Charity  Baker  and  the  rest  of  the  gals  at  a  squantum.  —  Wise,  Tales  for  the 
Marines. 

Square.     In  the  city  of  New  York  this  term  is  applied  to  the  open  spaces 
caused   by   the  junction   of   several   streets.     "  Chatham   square"  and 
^jy,y     "  Franklin  square  "  are  triangles  ! 

Squash.  A  culinary  vegetable.  (Genus,  Cucurhita.)  It  is  not  necessary 
to  resort  to  the  Greek  aixvog  for  the  etymology  of  this  word ;  it  is  Al- 
gonkin,  and  is  often  mentioned  by  the  early  writers. 

In  summer,  when  their  [the  Indians']  corn  is  spent,  squonter  squashes  is  their  best 
bread,  a  fruit  like  a  young  pumpion.  —  Wood's  New  England,  1634,  p.  37. 

Askatasquash,  the  vine  apple  [of  the  Indians],  which  the  English  from  them  call 
squashes,  about  tlie  bignesse  of  apples,  of  severall  colours,  sweete,  light,  wholesome, 
and  refreshing.  —  Roger  Williams,  Key  to  the  Ind.  Lang.,  1643. 

When  the  summer  of  your  lives,  my  female  friends,  is  drawing  to  a  close  — when 
your  rosy  charms  begin  to  fade  like  the  sprigs  upon  your  calicos  —  and  when,  like 
vineless  squashes,  you  have  grown  withered  and  yellow,  Cupid  will  disdain  to  fre- 
quent your  autumnal  bowers.  — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  III.  p.  127. 

Squash-Bug.  (Coreus  tristis.)  A  small  yellow  bug,  injurious  to  the 
vines  of  squashes,  melons,  and  cucumbers. 

To  Squat.  1.  To  squeeze  ;  to  press.  Ex.  "The  boy  has  squat  his  fin- 
ger." Used  by  the  vulgar  in  New  England.  —  Pickering's  Vocabulary. 
Mr.  Todd  has  this  word  in  his  dictionary  from  Barret  (1580):  "To 
bruise  or  malie  flat  by  letting  fall."  Provincial  in  the  South  of  England. 
2.  In  the  United  States,  to  settle  on  another's  lands,  or  on  public 
lands,  without  having  a  title.  —  Worcester. 

On  either  side  of  the  bank  the  colonists  had  been  allowed  to  squat  on  allotted  por- 
tions, until  the  survey  of  the  town  should  be  completed.  —  Wakefield's  Adventures  in 
New  2jealand  in  1844. 

The  Yankees  of  Connecticut,  those  swapping,  bargaining,  squatting  enemies  of  the 
Manhattoes,  made  a  daring  inroad  into  their  neighborhood,  and  founded  a  colony 
called  Westchester. — Irving,  Wolfert's  Roost,  p.  13. 

Squatter.  In  the  United  States,  one  that  settles  on  new  land  without  a 
title.  —  Webster. 

When  I  was  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  there  were  several  of  the  officers  who  had  been 
cited  to  appear  in  court  for  having,  pursuant  to  order,  removed  squatters  from  the 
Indian  lands  on  the  Mississippi.  —  Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West,  Let.  29. 

Tlie  Western  squatter  is  a  free  and  jovial  character,  inclined  to  mirth  rather  than 
evil ;  and  when  he  encounters  his  fellow  man  at  a  barbecue,  election,  log-rolling,  or 
frolic,  he  is  more  disposed  to  join  in  a  feeling  of  hilarity  than  to  participate  in  wrong 
or  outrage.  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

The  London  Spectator  has  the  following  remarks  on  this  word,  occa- 
sioned by  the  removal  of  a  number  of  the  occupants  of  Glenculvie,  in 


SQU  441 

Scotland,  who  had  squatted  there  as  under-tenants  :  The  term  "  squatter  " 
is  very  ambiguous.  In  America  it  denotes  a  ragged  rascal  without  a  cent 
in  his  pockets,  and  with  a  rifle  or  woodman's  axe  in  his  hand.  In  Aus- 
tralia it  designates  a  young  Oxonian  or  retired  officer  of  the  army  or 
navy,  possessed  of  stock  to  the  value  of  some  thousands.  In  Scotland  it 
seems  to  designate  a  person  very  differently  circumstanced  from  either  of 
the  preceding.  .  .  .  The  Scotchmen  who  "  squat  under  tenants,"  are 
men  who  have  followed  their  fathers  and  grandfathers  for  unknown  gen- 
erations in  the  occupancy  of  their  huts  and  kail-yards.  Their  families 
are  of  older  standing  in  the  district  than  those  of  the  tacksmen  or  the 
lairds.  The  Scotch  squatter  is  no  clandestine  intruder  upon  the  soil ;  he 
stands  in  the  place  of  his  forefathers,  and  the  act  which  ejects  him  is  a 
violent  innovation  on  the  customs  of  the  country  —  a  forcible  change  in  a 
mode  of  tenancy  sanctioned  by  the  "  use  and  wont "  of  all  ages.  —  June 
7,  1845. 

Squatter  Sovereignty.  The  right  of  the  squatters  or  actual  residents 
in  a  Territory  of  the  United  States  to  make  their  own  laws  and  shape 
their  own  institutions. 

One  of  the  great  merits  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision  is  the  total  extinguishment  it 
gives  to  the  dogma  o{  squatter  sovereignty  in  the  Territories.  It  utterly  negatives  the 
idea  that  there  is  any  original  jurisdiction  or  legislative  authority  in  tlie  Tenitory, 
and  asserts  that  all  authority  therein  is  derivative,  coming  from  without,  and  not  in- 
herent in  its  inhabitants  or  tribunals. —  The  (  Wash.)  Union,  Nov.  8,  1858. 

Squaw.  (Abenaki  Ind.)  An  Indian  woman.  Mr.  Duponceau,  after  giv- 
ing a  hst  of  the  languages  and  forms  in  which  this  word  occurs,  observes : 
"  On  voit  que  la  famille  de  ce  mot  s'etend  depuis  les  Knistenaux  en  Ca- 
nada, et  les  Skoffies  et  Montagnards  d'Acadie,  jusqu'aux  Nanticokes  sur 
les  confins  de  la  Virginie."  —  Mem.  sur  les  Langues  d'Jjyierique  du  Nord, 
p.  333. 

Squaw-Root.  (Conopholis  americana.)  A  medicinal  plant  put  up  by 
the  Shakers,  also  called  Cancer- Root.  It  is  recommended  for  correcting 
the  secretions,  and  possesses  narcotic  properties. 

Squaw- Weed.  (^Senecio  aureus.^  A  medicinal  plant  used  for  diseases  of 
the  skin. 

To  Squawk.  To  squeak,  but  with  a  deeper  note.  This  word  is  colloquial 
in  various  parts  of  England  and  in  New  England. 

"  Good  gracious  !  "  said  Mrs.  Bedott,  "  if  you  'd  a  heard  Miss  C sing,  you'd 

a  gin  up.   The  way  she  squawked  it  out  was  a  caution  to  old  gates  on  a  windy  day ! " 
—  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  208. 

Squeteague,  or  Squetee.     {Labrus  squeteague.)     A  very  common  fish 


442  S  Q  U 

in  the  waters  of  Long  Island  Sound  and  adjacent  bays.  It  never  visits 
rivers,  and  is  similar  in  habits  to  the  Tautog.  In  New  York  it  is  called 
Weak-fish,  owing  to  the  feeble  resistance  it  makes  when  caught  with  a 
hook.     The  name  is  Narraganset  Indian. 

To  Squib.  To  throw  squibs ;  to  utter  sarcastic  or  severe  reflections ;  to 
contend  in  petty  dispute ;  as,  "  two  members  of  a  society  squib  a  little  in 
debate."  Colloquial.  —  Webster.  This  word  is  not  in  the  English  dic- 
tionaries. 

To  Squid.     To  fish  by  trolling  with  a  squid,  either  natural  or  artificial. 

The  blucfish  is  taken  by  squidding  in  swift  tideways  from  a  boat  under  sail  in  a 
stiffish  breeze.  —  Frank  Forester. 

To  Squiggle.  To  move  about  like  an  eel.  New  England.  Often  figur- 
atively used  in  speaking  of  a  man  who  evades  a  bargain  as  an  eel  eludes 
the  grasp.  —  Pickering. 

Forby's  Glossary  of  Norfolk  contains  the  word  in  the  sense  of  "  to 
shake  a  fluid  about  the  mouth." 

Squire.  The  title  of  magistrates  and  lawyers.  In  New  England  it  is 
given  particularly  to  justices  of  the  peace  and  judges.  In  Pennsylvania, 
to  justices  of  the  peace  only.  —  Webster. 

To  Squirm.  To  wriggle  or  twist  about,  as  an  eel.  Provincial  in  Eng- 
land, and  colloquial  in  the  United  States.  —  Worcester. 

On  the  7th  January,  1859,  the  Hon.  Mr.  Pitt,  of  the  IVIissouri  legisla- 
ture, is  reported  to  have  said  in  debate : 

Mr.  Speaker,  this  House  passed  resolutions,  sir,  to  celebrate,  in  an  appropriate 
manner,  the  8th  of  January.  We  have  declared  an  intention,  and  now,  when  we 
come  to  publish  it,  some  gentleman  is  suddenly  seized  with  the  "  retrenchment 
gripes,"  and  squirms  around  like  a  long  red  worm  on  a  pin-hook. 

Squibt.     a  foppish  young  fellow  ;  a  whipper-snapper.     A  vulgar  word. 

If  they  won't  keep  company  with  squirts  and  dandies,  who  's  going  to  make  a 
monkey  of  himself?  — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  160. 

He  's  a  galvanized  squirt,  and,  as  the  parson  said,  "  the  truth  ain't  in  liim."  — 
North's  Slave  of  the  Lamp,  p.  25. 

Squirtisii.     Dandified. 

It 's  my  opinion  that  these  slicked-up  squirtish  kind  a  fellars  ain't  particular  hard 
baked,  and  they  always  goes  in  for  aristocracy  notions.  — Robb,  Squatter  Life,  p.  73. 

Squush.     To  crush.     A  vulgarism. 

The  next  time  I  meet  the  critter,  I  '11  take  my  stick  and  kill  it  —  I  '11  squush  it  with 
my  foot."  —  Neal's  Charcoal  Sketclies. 

The  following  stanza  is  from  a  "  Tender  Lay  "  on  a  new-laid  egg : 


STA  443 

Ay  —  touch  it  with  a  tender  touch, 

For,  till  the  egg  is  biled, 
Who  knows  but  that  unwittingly 

It  may  be  smashed  and  spiled. 
The  summer  breeze  that  'ginst  it  blows. 

Ought  to  be  stilled  and  hushed  ; 
For  eggs,  like  youthful  purity. 

Are  "  orful "  when  they  *re  squitshed. 

Stag.  1.  In  the  New  York  courts,  a  stag  is  the  technical  name  for  a  man 
who  is  always  ready  to  aid  in  proving  an  alibi,  of  course  "  for  a  consider- 
ation." 

2.   In  New  England  and  elsewhere,  a  bullock.     And  so,  too,  in  some 
parts  of  England. 

Stag-Dance.  A  dance  performed  by  males  only,  in  bar-rooms,  etc.  Also 
called  a  bull-dance. 

The  prisoners  in  the  jail  at  Lafayette,  Indiana,  have  been  provided  with  a  violin, 
and  one  of  the  number  being  a  good  player,  they  have  frequent  cotillons  or  sta^ 
dances,  which  have  the  advantage  of  being  select,  without  the  formality  peculiar  to 
entertainments  in  higher  circles.  —  (Bait.)  Sun,  Nov.  13,  1854. 

Stag-Paety.     a  party  consisting  of  males  only. 

I  lose  myself  in  a  party  of  old  bricks,  who,  under  pretence  of  looking  at  the  pic- 
ture, are  keeping  up  a  small  stag-party  at  the  end  of  the  room.  — Mace  Stoper,  in 
Knickerbocker  Mag.,  April,  1856. 

Stage-Driver.     A  stage-coachman. 

Staging.  Scaffolding.  Used  in  New  England,  and,  I  believe,  in  other 
parts  of  the  United  States.  —  Pickering. 

Stake  and  Ridek.  A  species  of  fence  higher  and  stronger  than  a  "  worm 
fence." 

To  Stake  out.     To  picket,  as  a  horse,  mule,  etc. 

He  got  all  his  fixins  for  camping  —  his  little  wallet  and  tin  cup,  and.  &  big  lariat 
to  stake  out  his  mule.  —  Frontier  Incident  (iV.  Y.  Spir.  of  Times). 

To  Stall.  To  stick  fast  in  the  mire,  as  a  horse  or  carriage.  The  term 
is  common  in  the  South,  and  is  noticed  by  Halliwell  in  his  Dictionary  of 
English  provincialisms.  In  New  England,  "  to  set "  is  used  in  the  same 
sense. 

Now  and  then  we  halted  to  mend  a  broken  tongue  or  axle,  or  help  a  stalled 
wagon  from  its  miry  bed. —  Capt.  Reid,  The  Scalp-IIunter,  p.  18. 

Stampede.  (Span,  estampado,  a  stamping  of  feet.)  A  general  scamper  of 
animals  on  the  Western  prairies,  usually  caused  by  a  fright.  Mr.  Ken- 
dall gives  the  following  interesting  account  of  one  : 

"  A  stampede  !  "  shouted  some  of  the  old  campaigners,  jumping  from  the  ground 


4M^  STA 

and  running  towards  their  friglitencd  animals ;  "  a  stampede !  look  out  for  your 
horses,  or  you  'II  never  see  them  again  ! "  was  heard  on  every  side. 

It  is  singular  the  effect  that  sudden  fright  has  not  only  upon  horses,  but  oxen,  on 
the  prairies.  The  latter  will,  perliaps,  run  longer  and  farther  than  the  former ;  and 
although  not  as  difficult  to  "  head,"  because  they  cannot  run  so  fast,  their  onward 
course  it  is  impossible  to  stay.  Oxen  have  been  known  to  run  forty  miles  without 
once  stopping  to  look  back.  Not  one  in  fifty  of  tliem  has  seen  the  least  cause  of 
fear,  but  each  simply  ran  because  his  neighbor  did.  Frequent  instances  have 
occurred  wliere  some  worthless  but  skittish  horse  has  caused  the  loss  of  hundreds  of 
valuable  animals. 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  grandeur  of  the  scene  wlien  a  large  cavallada,  or  drove 
of  horses,  take  a  "  scare."  Old,  weather-beaten,  time-worn,  and  broken-down  steeds 
—  horses  that  have  nearly  given  out  from  liard  work  or  old  age  —  will  at  once  be 
transformed  into  wild  and  prancing  colts.  "When  first  seized  with  that  indescribable 
terror  wliicli  induces  them  to  fly,  tiiey  seem  to  have  been  suddenly  endowed  with  all 
the  attributes  of  their  original  wild  nature.  With  heads  erect,  tails  and  manes 
streaming  in  the  air,  eyes  lit  up,  and  darting  beams  of  fright,  old  and  jaded  hacks 
will  be  seen  prancing  and  careering  about  with  all  the  buoyancy  of  action  which 
characterizes  the  antics  of  young  colts.  The  throng  will  sweep  along  tlie  plain  with 
a  noise  which  may  be  likened  to  something  between  a  tornado  and  an  earthquake, 
and  as  well  might  feeble  man  attempt  to  arrest  either  of  the  latter. 

Were  the  earth  rending  and  cleaving  beneath  tlieir  feet,  horses,  when  under  the 
terrifying  influence  of  a  stampede,  could  not  bound  away  with  greater  velocity  or 
more  majestic  beauty  of  movement.  —  Santa  Fe  Expedition,  Vol.  I.  p.  96. 

About  two  hours  before  day  there  was  a  sudden  stampedo,  or  rush  of  horses,  along 
the  purlieus  of  the  camp,  with  a  snorting  and  a  neighing  and  clattering  of  hoofs  that 
started  the  rangers  from  their  sleep.  — Irving' s  Tour  to  the  Prairies,  p.  141. 

Last  night  there  occurred  that  dreaded  calamity  of  the  prairies,  a  stampede  of  the 
mules.  The  herd  was  quietly  grazing,  when  suddenly  a  pony  took  fright,  and,  cre- 
ating a  panic  among  the  animals,  all  fled.  Their  heavy  tramping  awoke  us;  and, 
seizing  arms,  wc  nished  out,  thinking  that  Indians  were  tlie  cause  of  the  disturb- 
ance. .  .  .  For  thirty-two  miles  they  continued  the  pursuit,  and  tlicn,  overtaking  the 
fi-ightcned  horses  that  led  the  herd,  turned  them  back. —  Capt.  Whipple's  Explora- 
tions for  a  Railroad  to  the  Pacific,  p.  77. 

From  animals  the  term  is  transferred  to  men  : 

The  boys  leaped  and  whooped,  flung  their  hats  in  the  air,  chased  one  another  in  a 
sort  of  stampede,  etc.  —  Margaret,  p.  120. 

After  him  I  went,  and  after  me  they  came,  and  perhaps  there  was  n't  the  awfullest 
stampede  down  three  pair  of  stairs  that  ever  occurred  in  Michigan  !  —  Field,  Western 
Tales. 

The  cause  that  led  to  the  recent  alarm  [in  Paris]  was  the  stampede  among  the 
directors  of  that  wonderful  institution,  the  Credit  Mobilier.  —  N.  Y.  Journal  of  Com- 
merce, Oct.  12,  1857. 

From  information  which  lias  reached  us,  there  would  seem  to  have  been  a  consider- 
able stampede  of  slaves  from  the  border  valley  counties  of  Virginia  during  the  late 
Easter  holidays. —  (Bait.)  Sun,  Apr.  9,  1858. 

To  Stampede.     1.  To  cause  to  scamper  off  in  a  fright. 

Col.  Snively  was  on  the  point  of  marcliing  in  pursuit  of  the  Mexicans,. when  an 


ST  A  445 

incident  occurred  which  frustrated  the  purposes  of  the  expedition.  This  was  ef- 
fected by  a  war  party  of  Indians,  Avho  succeeded  in  stampeding  a  large  band  of  the 
army  horses.  — Scenes  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  268. 

Orders  were  issued  by  Daniel  H.  Wells,  styling  himself  "Lieutenant-General, 
Nauvoo  Legion,"  to  stampede  the  animals  of  the  United  States  troops  on  their  march, 
to  set  fire  to  their  trains,  to  burn  the  grass,  etc.  —  President's  Message,  Dec.  6,  1858. 

2.  To  scamper  off  in  a  fright. 
The  Virginia  Legislature,  becoming  frightened  at  the  approach  of  the  cholera, 
have  finally  stampeded  toward  the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  there  to  legislate  in  the 
ball-room  of  the  "principal  hotel."  —  N.  Y.  Tribune,  June  12,  1849. 

Stamping-G ROUND.  The  scene  of  one's  exploits,  or  favorite  place  of  re- 
sort.    South  and  "West. 

The  little  village  of  Hampton,  Virginia,  is  a  favorite  stamping-ground  for  politi- 
cians. President  Pierce  spent  a  few  days  here  early  in  the  season. —  Cor.  of  the  Bal- 
timore Argus. 

At  the  dinner  given  to  the  Knight  Templars  of  Virginia  by  their 
brethren  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  on  the  occasion  of  their  visit,  June  22, 
1858,  Sir  Knight  M.  Kimball,  one  of  the  Committee  from  Boston,  in 
response  to  the  toast  of  "  The  City  of  Boston,"  said  : 

"  For  the  present  we  won't  brag  m-uch.  We  say  as  little  as  possible  until  we  get 
the  Virginia  Knight  Templars  on  our  own  stamping-ground.  We  don't  propose  to 
astonish  them  till  we  get  them  out  of  your  [the  R.  I.  Tcmplars'J  bauds." 

I  went  up  to  Mobile,  and  then  to  my  old  stampin' -ground,  up  again  to  the  old 
State ;  and,  arter  spending  a  week  or  so  among  my  kin,  made  a  bee-line  for  Wasli- 
ington. — Piney  Woods  Tavern,/^.  41. 

Stancheous.     Strong;  durable.     "Western. 

I  tell  you  what,  it 's  a  mighty  stancheous  looking  building,  and  looks  far  off  at  a 
distance  when  you're  going  up  to  it.  — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  33. 

Stand.  The  situation  of  a  store  or  place  of  business  is  called  a  stand ;  as 
"  The  Astor  House  is  a  good  stand  for  a  Hotel." 

To  Stand  Treat.   To  consent  to  treat,  or  to  be  at  the  expense  of  treating 
a  party  to  liquor. 

I  was  never  sold  before,  I  vow ;  I  cave  in,  and  will  stand  treat.  —  Sam  Slick, 
Human  Nature. 

To  Stand  up  to  the  Rack.  A  metaphorical  expression  of  the  same 
meaning  as  the  like  choice  phrases,  "  to  come  to  the  scratch,"  "  to  toe  the 
miu'k." 

I  begun  a  new  campaign  at  Washington.  I  had  hard  work,  but  I  stood  up  to  the 
rack,  fodder  or  no  fodder.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  137. 

It  was  the  hottest  night's  work  ever  old  Wolf  undertook  ;  and  it  tuck  a  mighty 
chance  of  hollerin'  to  make  him  stand  up  to  his  rack  as  welt  as  he  did. — Maj.  Jones's 
Courtship,  p.  64. 

3» 


446  ST  A 

Standee.    A  standing  bed-place  in  a  steamer. 

Star- Apple.  (^ChrysopMUum  camito.)  A  round,  smooth  skinned  fruit, 
the  size  of  a  peach,  with  a  soft  pulp,  and  a  number  of  glossy,  brown  seeds. 
The  more  common  kinds  of  star-apple  are  the  green  skinned  ones  with 
white  pulps,  and  the  purple  ones.    West  Indies. 

Star-Pltjm.  (  Chrysophyllum  monopyreuum.)  A  kind  of  star-apple,  also 
called  a  Barbadoes  Damson  plum.     Barbadoes. 

Stars.  1.  The  officers  of  the  new  police  in  the  city  of  New  York  are  so 
called  from  their  badge,  a  brass  star,  which  is  required  by  law  to  be  worn 
on  the  breast. 

The  present  system  clothes  with  authority  not  only  vicious  men,  but  even  convicts, 
because  they  have  been  of  service  to  their  party.  Then  it  is  that  tlie  "star,"  instead 
of  being  a  terror  to  evil-doers,  becomes  the  fear  of  good  citizens.  — Report  of  Com. 
of  Philad.  Council  on  Police,  1857. 

2.  A  Southern  pronunciation  of  the  word  stairs,  like  bar  for  bear  ;  also 
heard  in  New  England. 

Stars  and  Stripes.     The  flag  of  the  United  States. 

This  flag  was  adopted  by  act  of  Congress  on  the  14th  June,  1777,  in 
the  following  words : 

"Resolved, —  That  the  flag  of  the  thirteen  United  Colonies  be  thirteen  stripes, 
alternately  red  and  white ;  that  the  Union  be  thirteen  stars,  white  in  a  blue  field, 
representing  a  new  constellation." 

It  has  been  thought  that  the  arms  of  Washington  may  have  suggested 
the  idea  for  the  American  flag.  These  arms  contain  three  stars  in  the 
upper  portion,  and  three  bars  running  across  the  escutcheon.  Other  fla^ 
were  used  at  different  times  during  the  Revolution,  which  are  described  by 
Mr.  T.  Westcott,  of  Philadelphia,  in  a  communication  with  the  London 
"Notes  and  Queries,"  for  1852,  p.  10. 

In  March,  1775,  a  union  flag  with  a  red  field  was  hoisted  at  New  York, 
bearing  the  inscription,  "  George  Rex  and  the  Liberties  of  America,"  and 
upon  the  reverse  "No  Popery."  On  the  18th  July,  1778,  Gen.  Putnam 
raised,  at  Prospect  Hill,  a  flag  bearing  on  one  side  the  Massachusetts 
motto  "  Qui  transtulit  siistinet"  on  the  other  "  An  appeal  to  Heaven." 
In  October  of  the  same  year  the  floating  batteries  at  Boston  had  a  flag 
with  the  latter  motto,  the  field  white  with  a  pine-tree  upon  it.  This  was 
the  Massachusetts  emblem.  Another  flag,  used  during  1775  in  some  of 
the  Colonies,  had  upon  it  a  rattlesnake  coiled  as  if  about  to  strike,  with 
the  motto,  "  Don't  tread  on  me."  The  grand  union  flag  of  thirteen  stripes 
was  raised  on  the  heights  near  Boston,  January  2,  1776.  The  British 
Annual  Register  of  1776,  says:  "They  burnt  the   King's  speech  and 


ST  A  447 

changed  their  colors  from  a  red  ground,  which  they  had  hitherto  used,  to 
a  flag  with  tliirteen  stripes,  as  a  symbol  of  the  number  and  union  of  the 
colonies."  The  idea  of  making  a  stripe  for  each  State  was  adopte'd  from 
the  first ;  and  the  fact  goes  far  to  negative  the  supposition  that  the  private 
arms  of  General  Washington  had  any  thing  to  do  with  it.  The  pine- 
tree,  the  rattlesnake,  and  the  striped  flag,  were  used  indiscriminately 
until  July,  1777,  when  the  blue  union  with  the  stars  was  added  to  the 
stripes,  and  the  flag  established  by  law.  Formerly  a  new  stripe  was  add- 
ed for  each  new  State  admitted  to  the  union,  until  the  flag  became  too 
large,  when,  by  act  of  Congress,  the  stripes  were  reduced  to  the  old  thir- 
teen ;  and  now  a  star  is  added  to  the  union  at  the  accession  of  each  new 
State. 

Star-Spangled  Banner.  The  flag  of  the  United  States.  The  terra 
was  first  given  to  the  American  flag  by  Francis  S.  Key,  in  his  beautiful 
song,  now  become  a  national  one,  which  bears  that  title.  The  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  composition  of  this  song  are  given  by  Chief 
Justice  Taney,  the  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Key,  in  a  letter  which  accompa- 
nied a  late  edition  of  the  poems  of  that  writer.  The  following  is  con- 
densed from  it : 

"In  the  campaign  of  the  British,  during  the  war  of  1812,  when  they 
destroyed  the  Capitol  at  Washington  and  the  battle  of  Bladen  sburg  took 
place,  Dr.  Beanes,  a  leading  physician  of  Upper  Marlboro',  was  taken 
from  his  bed  at  midnight,  by  a  detachment  of  soldiers  sent  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  without  even  allowing  him  to  put  his  clothes  on,  was  hurried  off 
to  the  British"  camp. 

"Measui*es  were  immediately  taken  to  procure  the  release  of  Dr. 
Beanes,  who  had  been  sent  down  to  the  fleet  which  lay  in  the  Chesapeake. 
Mr.  Key,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  the  Doctor,  volunteered  to  ac- 
company Mr.  Skinner,  an  agent  for  the  government  for  flags  of  truce  and 
exchange  of  prisoners. 

"  After  much  solicitation  Mr.  Key  succeeded  in  getting  an  order  to  re- 
lease the  Doctor,  but  they  were  told  that  they  must  remain  with  the  fleet 
until  after  the  attack  on  Baltimore,  then  about  to  be  made.  They  were 
then  transferred  to  their  own  vessels,  accompanied  by  a  guard  of  marines 
to  prevent  them  from  landing,  and  fortunately  anchored  in  a  position 
which  enabled  them  to  see  the  flag  of  Fort  McHenry.  The  party  re- 
mained on  deck  during  the  whole  night,  watching  every  shell,  from  the 
moment  it  was  fired  until  it  fell,  listening  with  breathless  interest  to  hear 
if  an  explosion  followed. 

"  While  the  bombardment  continued,  it  was  sufficient  proof  that  the  fort 
had  not  surrendered.  But  it  suddenly  ceased,  when  they  became  alarmed 
and  paced  the  deck  the  remainder  of  the  night  in  painful  suspense,  watch- 


448  S  T  A 

ing  with  intense  anxiety  for  the  return  of  day.  At  length  the  hght  came ; 
they  saw  that  "our  flag  was  still  there,"  and  soon  after  learned  that  the 
attack  had  failed.  Mr.  Key,  Mr.  Skinner,  and  Dr.  Beanes  were  then 
permitted  to  land  where  they  pleased. 

"  Under  the  excitement  of  the  time,  Mr.  Key,  as  he  stated  to  Judge 
Taney,  commenced  the  song  of  '  The  Star-Spangled  Banner '  on  the 
deck  of  their  vessel,  in  the  fervor  of  the  moment,  when  he  saw  the  enemy 
retreating  to  their  ships,  and  looked  at  the  flag  he  had  watched  for  so 
anxiously,  as  the  morning  opened.  A  few  lines  he  had  scratched  on  the 
back  of  a  letter  which  he  had  in  his  pocket,  some  he  preserved  in  his 
mind,  and  finished  it  in  the  boat  on  his  way  to  the  shore.  Arriving  at 
the  hotel,  he  wrote  it  out  as  it  now  stands.  The  next  morning  he  showed 
the  lines  to  Judge  Nicholson,  who  was  much  pleased  with  them,  and  im- 
mediately sent  them  to  a  printer,  where  the  poem  was  struck  off  in  hand- 
bills, and  most  favorably  received  by  the  people  of  Baltimore : 

"  Oh !  say,  can  you  see,  by  the  dawn's  early  light. 

What  so  proudly  we  hail'd  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming ; 
Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars,  through  the  perilous  fight, 

O'er  the  ramparts  we  watch'd  were  so  gallantly  streaming  1 
And  the  rocket's  red  glare,  the  bombs  bursting  in  air, 
Gave  pi'oof  through  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there  ; 
Oh  !  say,  does  that  star-spangled  banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave  ?  " 

Stare-Cat.  a  woman  or  girl  who  amuses  herself  with  gazing  at  her 
neighbors.     A  woman's  word.  * 

State.  A  large  district  of  country  having  a  separate  government,  but  con- 
federated with  other  States,  as  one  of  the  members  or  States  of  the 
American  Union.  —  Worcester. 

States  Rights.  The  rights  of  the  several  independent  States,  as  opposed 
to  the  authority  of  the  Federal  government. 

Having  been  all  my  life,  and  being  still,  an  ardent  "  States-rights  "  man,  —  believ- 
ing States  rights  to  be  an  essential,  nay,  the  essential,  element  of  the  Constitution, 
and  that  no  one  who  thinks  otherwise  can  stand  on  the  same  constitutional  platform 
that  I  do,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  am,  and  all  those  with  whom  I  act  habitually  are,  if 
Democrats  at  all,  true  "States-rights  Democrats."  —  Speech  of  Hon.  J.  II.  Ham- 
mond, Oct.  27,1858. 

To  Stave.  1.  To  break  a  hole  in ;  to  break  ;  to  burst ;  as  "  to  stave  a  cask." 
—  Webster.  This  is  the  legitimate  use  of  the  verb ;  but  sometimes  we 
make  it  govern  the  instrument  directly,  as  in  the  following  example  : 

I  '11  stave  my  fist  right  through  you,  and  caiTy  you  on  my  elbow,  as  easily  as  if 
you  were  an  empty  market-basket.  —  Ntal's  Charcoal  Sketches, 

2.     To  hurry ;  to  press  forward. 


S  T  E  449 

A  president  of  one  of  our  colleges  once  said  to  a  graduate  at  parting,  "My  son,  I 
want  to  advise  you.  Never  oppose  public  opinion.  The  great  world  will  stave  right 
on !  "  —  Am.  Review,  June,  1848. 

Hilloa!  Steve!  where  are  you  stamn^  to  ?  If  you're  for  Wellington,  scale  up 
here  and  I  '11  give  you  a  ride.  —  Mrs:  Clavers's  Forest  Life, 

And  so  the  Yankee  staves  along 
Full  chisel,  hitting  right  or  wrong. 
And  makes  the  burden  of  his  song 

"  By  goUy  1 " — Home  Journal. 

Steal  (pronounced  stail).  The  handle  of  various  implements;  as  a  rake- 
steal,  Q,  fork-steal.  Used  by  the  farmers  in  some  parts  of  New  England. 
Provincial  in  various  parts  of  England.  —  Pickering. 

Steamboat.  A  term  used  at  the  "West  to  denote  a  dashing,  go-a-head 
character. 

Mrs.  Stowe,  while  in  England,  met  Archbishop  Whately,  of  whom  she 
thus  speaks : 

There  is  a  kind  of  brusque  humor  in  his  address,  a  downright  heartiness,  which 
reminds  one  of  Western  character.  K  he  had  been  bom  in  our  latitude,  in  Kentucky 
or  Wisconsin,  the  natives  would  have  called  him  Whately,  and  said  he  was  a  real 
steamboat  on  an  argument.  —  Sunny  Memories. 

The  renowned  Colonel  Crockett,  while  asleep  on  a  stump,  got  caught 
in  the  crotch  of  a  tree  and  held  fast,  where  he  was  attacked  by  eagles, 
which  attempted  to  pull  out  his  long  hair  to  build  their  nests  with. 

"In  a  few  minutes  I  heered  a  voice,"  says  the  Colonel,  "and  then  a  gal  come  run- 
ning up,  and  axed  what  was  the  matter I  telled  her,  that  if  she  would  drive 

off  the  eagles,  I  would  make  her  a  present  of  an  iron  comb." 

"  That  I  will,"  says  she,  "  for  I  am  a  she  steamboat,  and  have  doubled  up  a  croco- 
dile in  my  day." 

Steam  Doctor.     See  Thompsonian  Doctor. 

Steam  Paddy.  A  steam  earth-excavator,  much  used  in  making  excava- 
tions in  sand  or  loose  soil  for  railways.  So  called  from  its  taking  the 
place  of  a  number  of  .Iri§h  laborers. 

The  soil  was  so  sandy  that  the  hills  were  easily  cut  down,  and  for  this  purpose  a 
contrivance  was  used  called  a  steam  Paddy,  which  did  immense  execution.  —  Boj-th- 
wick's  California,  p.  80. 

Stebot,  Seboy.     a  word  used  to  set  dogs  upon  pigs  or  other  animals. 

"  There  it  is  —  that  black  and  white  thing  —  on  that  log,"  says  Tom.  "  Steboy, 
catch  him !  "  says  he  [to  the  dog].  Ben  run  up  with  his  light,  and  the  first  thing  I 
heard  him  say  was,  "  Peugh !  oh,  my  Lord  !  look  out,  fellers,  it 's  a  pole-cat."  — 
Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  55. 

Steep.  Great,  magnificent,  extravagant.  A  newly  coined  slang  term, 
equivalent  to  tall. 

38* 


450  S  T  E  —  S  T I 

At  the  election  in  Minnesota,  one  hundred  and  ten  Winnebago  Indians,  wearing 
their  blankets,  voted  the  Democratic  ticket ;  but  the  agent  thought  this  was  rather 
steep,  so  he  afterwards  crossed  that  number  from  the  list.  —  Chicago  Tribune,  Oct. 
17,  1857. 

The  verdict  by  twelve  of  seventeen  of  a  jury  giving  $150,000  as  damages  to  a 
Land  and  Water-Power  Company,  at  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  through  the 
diversion  to  the  Washington  Aqueduct  of  one  eighteenth  of  the  water  at  lowest 
stage,  is  regarded  as  decidedly  steep.  —  (Bait.)  Sun,  Aug.  23,  1858. 

Stemmert.  a  large  building  in  which  tobacco  is  stemmed,  that  is,  in 
which  the  thin  part  of  the  leaf  is  stripped  from  the  fibrous  veins  that  run 
through  it.     Kentucky  and  Missouri. 

Stern- Wheel.     The  shallow  rivers  of  the  West  are  navigated  by  small 
•    steamboats  with  a  wheel  at  the   sterfl  instead  of  side-wheels,  which  are 
used  only  in  the  larger  steamers.   Hence  the  term  is  applied  to  any  thing 
small,  petty  ;  as,  a  "  stern-wheel  church."     Comp.  One-Horse. 

Stern-Wheeler.     A  steamboat  fitted  up  with  a  stem-wheel.    Western. 

Squire  Blaze  served  for  a  long  time  as  first  mate  on  a  raft,  but  grew  ambitious  for 
higher  distinction.  Next  he  got  possession  of  a  stam-wheeler,  and  entered  the  pine- 
knot  business,  the  pursuit  of  which  took  him  so  high  up  Red  River,  that  he  got  clean 
out  of  the  way  of  taxes.  —  Remembrances  of  the  Mississippi.     Harper's  Mag. 

A  Southern  editor  wishes  to  say  that  the  Mississippi  is  very  low.  How  does  he 
say  it  ■?  "  The  cat-fish  are  rigging  up  stern-wheelers."  —  Speech  of  the  Hon.  S.  H.  Cox, 
Sept.  1857. 

To  Stick.  To  take  in  ;  to  impose  upon ;  to  cheat  in  trade.  "  I  'm  stuck 
with  a  counterfeit  note ; "  "  He  went  to  a  horse  sale,  and  got  stuck  with  a 
spavined  jade." 

As  soon  as  the  whole  class  of  small  speculators  perceived  they  had  been  stuck, 
they  all  shut  their  mouths  ;  no  one  confessing  the  ownership  of  a  share.  —  A  Week 
in  Wall  Street,  p,  47. 

Very  often  is  a  client  stuck  for  a  heavy  bill  of  costs,  which  he  Avould  have  saved 
but  for  the  ignorance  of  his  attorney.  —  Newspaper. 

Stick-Chimnei:.  In  newly  settled  parts  of  the  country,  where  log-houses 
form  the  first  habitations  of  the  settlers,  the  chimneys  are  made  with 
sticks  from  one  to  two  inches  square,  and  about  two  feet  in  length,  which 
are  laid  crosswise  and  cemented  with  clay  or  mud.  The  fire-places  are 
built  of  rough  stone,  and  the  stick-chimneys  are  merely  the  conductors  of 
the  smoke. 

The  stick-chimney  was,  like  its  owner's  hat,  open  at  the  top,  and  jammed  in  at  the 
sides. — Mrs.  Clavers's  Western  Clearings,  p.  7. 

Sticker.  An  article  of  merchandise  wliich  sticks  by  the  dealer,  and  does 
not  meet  with  a  ready  sale,  is  technically  called  a  sticker. 

Stiff.  A  dead  body,  in  the  language  of  the  "  resurrectionists,"  is  called  a 
stif. 


STI  — STO  451 

Still-Baiting.  Fishing  with  a  deep  Hne  in  one  spot,  as  distinguished  from 
trolling. 

Still-Hunter.     A  stalker  of  game.     "Western. 

The  still-hunter  must  needs  be  upon  his  guard  ;  for  the  wounded  buffalo  is  prone 
to  make  battle,  upon  the  too  near  approach  of  his  enemy.  —  Gregg,  Com.  of  Prairies, 
Vol.  II.  p.  219. 

Still-Hunting.  "Walking  noiselessly  through  the  woods,  keeping  a  bright 
look-out,  and  searching  for  game  in  the  haunts  where  they  are  wont  to 
browse  in  the  daytime. 

Still-hunting  buffalo  is  approaching  or  stalking,  by  taking  advantage  of  the  wind 
and  any  cover  the  ground  affords,  and  crawling  within  shooting  distance  of  the  feed- 
ing herd.  — Ruxton,  Adventures  in  N.  Mexico,  p.  285. 

What  is  called  still-hunting  among  our  frontiersmen  is  not  practised  among  the 
Indians.  — Siblei/'s  Western  Prairies. 

Stingaree.     a  corruption  of  sting-ray,  the  name  of  a  fish. 

Stinkstone.  Swine-stone,  a  variety  of  carbonate  of  lime,  which  emits  a 
fetid"  odor  on  being  struck.  —  Dana. 

Stinkweed.     See  Jamestown  Weed. 

Stinted.     Often  substituted  for  stunted. 

To  Stitch.     To  form  land  into  ridges.     New  England.  —  Webster. 

To  Stive  up.  To  make  hot,  sultry,  close.  An  English  expression,  but 
now  more  used,  it  is  believed,  in  this  than  in  the  old  country. 

"  Oh,  marcy  on  us,"  said  a  fat  lady  who  was  looking  for  a  house,  "  tills  '11  never 
do  for  my  family  at  all.  There 's  no  convenience  about  it,  only  one  little  stived  up 
closet.  .  .  .  And  the  bed-rooms  —  she  would  as  soon  sleep  in  a  pig-pen,  and  done 
with  it,  as  to  get  into  such  little,  mean,  stived  up  places  as  them."  —  Downing,  May- 
day in  New  York. 

To  Stiver.  To  run ;  to  move  off.  A  low  word  used  in  the  Northern 
States. 

To  Stock.  To  stock  land  means,  with  us,  to  supply  land,  not  only  with 
animals,  but  also  with  seed ;  as,  "  My  farm  is  stocked  with  clover." 

Stock-Minder.     One  who  takes  care  of  cattle  on  the  great  prairies. 

Stock-Range.     The  prairie  or  plain  where  cattle  range  or  graze. 

When  any  person  or  persons  may  hunt  estrays  in  another  stock-range,  he  or  they 
shall  notify  the  owner  or  stock-minder  of  said  stock  his  or  their  intention  or  object. 

Stock-Train.     A  train  of  railroad  cars  loaded  with  cattle. 

Stocking-Feet.  To  be  in  one's  stocking-feet  is  to  have  only  one's  stock- 
ings on,  to  have  one's  shoes  off. 


4&Si  STO 

Stocky.  Short  and  thick.  A  west  of  England  expression,  used  in  "New 
England. 

He 's  rather  a  stocky  man ;  and  I  'm  nothing  but  a  shadow,  as  it  were.  — r  Brooke's 
Eastford. 

Stone-Bee.  An  assemblage  of  farmers  or  villagers  for  the  purpose  of 
clearing  stones  from  a  neighbor's  piece  of  land.     See  Bee. 

At  Ridgefieid  we  used  to  have  stone-bees,  when  all  the  men  of  a  village  or  hamlet 
came  together  with  their  draft  cattle,  and  united  to  clear  some  patch  of  earth  which 
was  covered  with  an  undue  quantity  of  stones  and  rocks.  —  Goodrich,  Reminiscences, 
Vol.  I.  p.  75. 

Stone-Bruise.  A  hurt  or  sore  on  the  sole  of  the  foot  among  those  who 
go  without  shoes,  such  as  children  and  negroes,  in  the  Western  States. 
The  same  term  is  used  in  Ireland. 

Stone-Root.  {CoUinsoma  canadensis.)  A  plant  used  in  medicine. 
Its  properties  are  diuretic  and  stomachic.     It  is  also  caUed  Rich  Weed. 

Stone-Toter.  a  name  often  given  to  the  Mullet  (  Gatostomus  nigricans) 
of  the  Middle  States,  and  to  other  species  of  GyprinidcB. 

The  most  singular  fish  in  this  part  of  the  world  is  called  the  Stone-toter,  whose 
brow  is  surmounted  with  several  little  sharp  horns,  by  the  aid  of  which  he  totes  small 
flat  stones  from  one  part  of  the  brook  to  another  more  quiet,  in  order  to  make  a 
snug  little  inclosure  for  his  lady  to  lie  in  in  safety.  — Paulding,  Lett,  from  the  South. 

Stool.-  An  artificial  duck  or  other  water-fowl  used  as  a  decoy.  They  are 
much  used  on  Long  Island  and  elsewhere  in  duck  shooting. 

Stooling.     Decoying  ducks  or  other  fowl  by  the  means  of  "  stools." 

Stool-Pigeon.  a  decoy  robber,  in  the  pay  of  the  police,  who  brings  his 
associates  into  a  trap  laid  for  them. 

Stool-Pigeoning.     The  practice  of  employing  decoys  to  catch  robbers. 

Stoop.  (Dutch,  stoep.)  The  steps  at  the  entrance  of  a  house ;  door-steps. 
It  is  also  applied  to  a  porch  with  seats,  a  piazza,  or  balustrade.  This, 
unlike  most  of  the  words  received  from  the  Dutch,  has  extended,  in  con- 
sequence of  tb|^  uniform  style  of  building  that  prevails  throughout  the 
country,  beyoMFthe  bounds  of  New  York  State,  as  far  as  the  backwoods 
of  Canada,  ii^ 

In  portly  gabardine  and  bulbous  multiplicity  of  breeches,  the  Dutch  burgher  sat 
on  Ills  stoep,  and  smoked  his  pipe  in  lordly  silence.  —  Knickerbocker's  New  York, 
p.  385. 

About  nine  o'clock  all  three  of  us  passed  up  Wall  street,  on  the  stoops  of  which 
no  small  portion  of  its  tenants  were  ah-eady  seated.  —  Cooper,  Satanstoe,  Vol.  L 
p.  69. 

Nearly  all  the  houses  [in  Albany]  were  built  with  their  gables  to  the  street,  and 
each  had  heavy  wooden  Dutch  stoops,  with  seats  at  the  door.  — Ibid.  p.  ICl. 


STO  453 

There  was  a  large  two  story  house,  having  a  long  stoop  in  front.  —  Margaret,  p.  63. 
The  roses  full,  the  daisies  droop, 
And  all  about  the  ancient  stoop 
Tlie  eager  spanx)ws  soar  and  swoop. 

Nora  Pern/,  The  Legend  of  Moorland  Hall. 
I  shall  step  back  to  my  party  within  the  stonp.  —  Backwoods  of  Canada. 
The  stoup  is  up,  and  I  have  just  planted  hops  at  the  base  of  the  pillars.  —  Ibid. 
p.  309.  » 

To  Stop.  To  stay,  to  abide  temporarily ;  as,  "  "VMien  you  come  to  New 
York,  stop  with  me  instead  of  going  to  a  hotel." 

Those  who  remain  at  home  know  little  of  the  newer  portions  of  our  country,  and 
of  the  primeval  style  of  living.  I  recently  stopped  with  a  friend  on  court-day. 
The  court-house  was  of  logs,  without  a  floor,  etc.  —  Corresp.  of  Newark  Daily  Adv. 

Stoke.  In  the  United  States  and  Canada  shops  of  eveiy  kind  for  the  sale 
of  goods,  whether  at  wholesale  or  retail,  are  commonly  called  sto7'es. 
Thus  we  have  dry  goods  stores,  shoe  stores,  book  stores,  hardware  stores, 
etc.  etc.  This  use  of  the  word,  whose  proper  meaning  is  a  magazine  or 
storehouse  where  merchandise  or  movable  property  is  kept,  seems  to  arise 
from  that  tendency  to  the  magniloquent  Avith  which  Americans  have  been 
charged.  The  word  shop  is  thus  almost  wholly  discarded,  except  in  the 
sense  of  workshop. 

Store  Clothes,  Store  Goods.  Clothing  or  other  articles  purchased  at 
a  store,  as  opposed  to  those  which  are  home  made.  These  phrases  are 
used  only  in  out  of  the  way  sections  of  the  country.     Comp.  Boughten. 

Storekeeper.  In  America  a  man  who  has  the  care  of  a  store  or  ware- 
house ;  a  shopkeeper.  The  officer  who  has  charge  of  the  government 
warehouse,  where  property  to  the  value  of  millions  is  deposited  for  in- 
spection or  for  safe-keeping,  is  a  storekeeper ;  so  too  is  the  man  who 
stands  behind  the  counter  of  a  paltry  shop,  and  deals  out  yards  of  tape 
and  papers  of  pins. 

Store  Pay.  Payment  made  for  produce  or  other  articles  purchased,  by 
goods  from  a  store,  instead  of  cash.  This  is  a  common  way  of  buying 
produce  in  the  country.  Sometimes  a  dealer  agrees  to  pay  half  in  cash 
and  half  out  of  his  store,  i.  e.  in  store  pay. 

Sec,  a  girl  has  just  arrived  with  a  pot  of  butter  to  trade  off  for  store  pay.  She 
wants  in  exchange  a  yard  of  calico,  a  quarter  of  tea,  a  quart  of  molasses,  some 
radish  seed,  a  plug  of  tobacco,  two  pipes,  a  fine-tootli  comb,  a  salt  mackerel,  a  dose 
of  rhubarb,  two  sticks  of  candy,  and  a  bottle  of  rum.  —  Capt.  Priest's  Adventures, 
p.  54. 

Storm.  A  violent  wind ;  a  tempest.  Thus,  "  a  storm  of  wind  "  is  correct 
language,  as  the  proper  sense  of  the  word  is  rushing,  violence.  It  has 
primarily  no  reference  to  a  fall  of  rain  or  snow ;  but,  as  a  violent  wind  is 


454  STO  — STR 

often  attended  with  rain  or  snow,  the  word  storm  has  come  to  be  used, 
most  improperly,  for  a  fall  of  rain  or  snow  without  wind.  —  Webster. 

To  Storm.  To  blow  with  violence ;  impersonally,  as,  it  storms.  —  Web- 
ster.    "We  "use  it  improperly  in  the  sense  of  to  rain  or  to  snow. 

Story.  A  floor ;  a  flight  of  rooms.  —  Johnson.  In  the  United  States  the 
floor  next  the  ground  is  the  first  story.  In  England,  what  we  call  the 
"  second  story  "  is  called  the  "  first  floor." 

Straddle-Bug.  The  popular  name  for  a  beetle.  In  the  Isle  of  Wight 
the  cockroach  is  called  a  straddle-bob. 

Shew  me  the  man  who  does  not  delight  in  the  departure  of  winter,  and  I  will  ex- 
hibit to  you  one  who,  as  Siiecpspear  says,  is  "  fit  for  treacle,  straddle-hugs,  and 
spooks."  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  194. 

Straight.     1.     Even  or  uniform  in  quality.     A  term  used  in  commerce, 
and  particularly  among  flour-dealers,  as,  "  A  thousand  barrels  of  Rochester 
flour,  straight,  brought  $5,"  meaning  that  the  thousand  barrels  were  all 
alike,  or  that  the  same  brand  ran  straight  through. 
2.   Pure,  genuine,  undiluted,  un contaminated. 

My  glass  of  brandy,  which  should  have  been  straight,  was  surreptitiously  diluted 
with  Croton  water.  —  Doesticks, 

In  the  presidential  contest  of  1 844  no  man  was  more  fierce  in  his  hostility  to 
Henry  Clay  than  the  present  candidate  of  the  straight  Wliigs  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 
—  N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer,  Sept.,  1856. 

The  straight  Republican  Convention  is  to  meet  to-morrow.  Mr.  Sumner's  anti- 
slavery  opinions  are  very  strong,  and  this  would  seem  to  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
he  is  with  the  straights.  —  N.  Y.  Times,  Oct.  14,  1857. 

Straight  out.     Pure  ;  genuine  ;  unsophisticated. 

Anne  was  indignant  with  that  straight  out  and  generous  indignation  which  belongs 
to  women,  who  are  ready  to  follow  their  principles  to  any  result  with  more  incon- 
siderate fearlessness  than  men.  —  Mrs.  Stoioe,  Dred,  Vol.  IL  p.  319. 

"We  feel  what  a  blessed  thing  it  is  just  now  to  be  a  straight-out  Whig,  sitting  calm 
on  tumult's  wheel.  —  N.  Y,  Commercial  Adv.,  May,  1 856. 

Straight-spoken.     Plain-spoken  ;  downright ;  candid. 

I  'm  not  a  going  to  spoil  the  appearance  of  heaven  by  foolishly  attempting  to 
garnish  it  with  artificial  flowers,  nor  to  blacken  hell  till  it  shines  like  a  new  polished 
boot.     Not  I.     I'm  a  straight-spoken  preacher.  — Dow's  Sermons. 
I  'm  a  straight  spoken  kind  o'  creetur, 

That  blurts  right  out  what 's  in  his  head  ; 
And  if  I  've  one  peculiar  feature. 

It  is  a  nose  that  wont  be  led.  —  Biglow  Papers,  p.  88. 

Straight  as  a  Loon's  Leg,  is  a  common  simile  in  New  England. 

They  were  puzzled  with  the  accounts  ;  but  I  saw  through  it  in  a  minit,  and  made 
it  all  as  straight  as  a  loon's  leg.  —  Maj.  Downing's  Letters,  p.  42. 


STR  455 

Straight  up  and  down.     Plain  ;  candid ;  honest. 

If  there  was  any  thing  wanting  to  prove  that  lawyers  were  not  straight  up  and 
down  in  their  dealings,  that  would  do  it. — Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature. 

Strain,  instead  of  sprain,  is  frequently  heard.  "I  have  strained  my 
ankle." 

Strand.  1.  The  Dutch  on  the  Hudson  Eiver  apply  the  term  to  a  landing- 
place  ;  as,  the  strand  at  Kingston.  —  Webster. 

2.   In  the  South  the  word  stroftid  denotes  a  fibre,  as  a  hair  of  the  head, 
beard,  etc. 

Stranger.  It  is  the  common  practice  in  the  "Western  States  to  accost  a 
person  whose  name  is  not  known,  by  this  title.  In  England,  for  example, 
a  person  would  say,  "  Can  you  tell  me,  sir,  if  this  is  the  road  to  B  ?  " 
At  the  West  he  would  say,  "  Stranger,  is  this  the  road  ?  "  etc. 

Under  the  benign  influence  of  the  Christian  religion,  a  civilization  was  gi'owing 
up  in  the  world  which  had  canied  modern  nations  far  beyond  the  boasted  i-efinement 
of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  With  them  the  word"  "  s<ra?)(/er "  was  synonymous 
with  "enemy;"  but  among  us,  "  stranger  "  was  but  another  name  for  "friend."  — 
Speech  of  E.  H.  Coxe,  Washington. 

Strap.     A  razor-strop  is,  with  us,  generally  called  a  razor-strap. 

Strapped.     Tight ;  hard  up  for  money. 

John  Scroggins,  at  2  p.  m.,  is  on  the  hunt  for  the  wherewithal  to  pay  a  note  in 
bank.  He  meets  Jerc.  Lowndes,  who  looks  cheerful,  as  though  he  may  have  a  few 
hundred.  Scroggins  tries  him.  No  go.  Lowndes  is  strapped ;  had  to  pay  his 
wife's  cousin's  last  quarter's  rent,  which  consumed  what  he  had  resei-vcd  for  current 
expenses,  when  he  made  his  last  purchase  of  stocks.  —  Nat.  Intelligencer,  Oct.,  1857. 

Straw  BxVil.  "Worthless  bail ;  bail  given  by  "  men  of  straw,"  i.  e.  per- 
sons who  pretend  to  the  possession  of  property,  but  have  none. 

There  is  a  class  of  pettifoggers  about  the  N.  Y.  Tombs  who  are  in  league  mth 
the  police  justices  to  get  all  the  money  they  can  out  of  their  victims,  and  having 
divided  the  spoils  the  culprits  are  sent  forth  unwhipped  of  justice.  Taking  straw- 
bail  is  the  favorite  dodge.  The  "  shyster  "  is  permitted  to  visit  him  or  her,  and  ■with 
a  tongue  practised  in  the  art,  he  dwells  upon  the  chances  the  prisoner  runs  of  Sing 
Sing  prison,  adding  that  for  a  consideration,  he  (the  shyster)  might  effect  a  liberation. 
If  the  prisoner  has  money,  it  is  paid  at  once.  The  magistrate  having  received  his 
share,  a  "  man  of  straw  "  is  taken  as  bail,  and  the  prisoner  is  discharged.  —  ( Wash. ) 
Evening  Star. 

Among  the  host  of  other  evils  which  have  been  suffered  to  exist  in  the  administra- 
tion of  our  criminal  laws  for  years  past,  the  practice  of  taking  irresponsible  persons 
for  bail  has  been  one  which  has  probably  most  interfered  with  the  course  of  justice. 
Like  the  professional  juror,  "straw-bail"  had  become  a  regular  trade,  and  its  pur- 
pose was  to  get  desperate  criminals  out  of  the  hands  of  the  law.  It  involved  the 
crime  of  perjury  of  course,  but  there  are  rascals  enough  ready  to  commit  perjury 
for  pay,  and  the  more  desperate  the  case  against  the  criminal,  the  less  willing  are 


456  STR 

his  friends  to  run  the  risks  of  trial.     Hundreds  of  criminals  have  escaped  the  punish- 
ment due  to  their  offences  tlu-ough  this  abuse.  — Philadelphia  Ledger,  1858. 

Steeak.     a  vein  ;  a  turn.     Applied  to  mental  peculiarities. 

Just  act,  now,  as  if  you  had  got  a  streak  of  something  in  yoo,  such  as  a  man  ought 
for  to  have  who  is  married  to  one  of  the  very  first  families  in  old  Virginia.  —  Mrs. 
Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  120. 

"  I  hope  yon  don't  mean  to  insiniwate  that  I  *ta  queer,  do  you,  Mellissy  ?  " 
"  0  no,  Priscillc,  I  didcnt  mean  to  insiniwate  that,  but  then  you  know  almost  every- 
body has  their  queer  streaks." —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  121. 

Streaked,  or  Streaky.     "  To  feel  streaked  "  is  to  feel  confused,  alarmed. 

I  begun  to  feel  streaked  enough  for  om*  folks,  when  I  see  what  was  done  on  Boston 
Common.  — Maj.  Downing' s  Letters,  p.  18. 

Oh,  what, a  beautiful  sight  the  ocean  is  when  there  aint  no  land  in  sight !  There  we 
was  in  a  little  shell  at  the  mercy  of  them  big  waves,  liigher  than  father's  barn.  I  never 
did  feel  so  streaky  and  mean  afore  ;  talk  of  a  grain  of  sand,  wiiy  I  felt  like  a  starved 
speck  of  dust  cut  up  into  homoeopathic  doses  for  a  child  two  minits  old.  —  Hiram 
Bigelow,  Letter  in  Family  Companion. 

Gen.  Tell  the  truth ;  keep  back  nothing ;  I  promised  no  harm  shall  happen 
you. 

Doolittle.  Oh,  I'll  tell  all  now ;  I  won't  stay  to  be  hanged  first !  Oh,  the  good 
gracious  suzz  !  how  streaked  I  feel  all  over !  —  D.  Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  Eng- 
land. 

But  when  it  comes  to  bein'  killed,  I  tell  ye  I  felt  streaked. 
The  fust  time  'tever  I  found  out  why  bayonets  wiiz  peaked.  — 

Lowell,  Biglow  Papers. 
Daniel  Webster  was  a  great  man,  I  tell  you ;  he'd  talk  King  William  out  of  siglit 
in  half  an  hour.   If  he  was  in  your  house  of  Commons,  he'd  make  some  of  your  great 
folks  look  pretty  streaked.  —  Sam  Slick,  1st  Series. 

To  Streak,  or  To  Streak  it,  is  to  run  as  fast  as  possible. 
O'er  hill  and  dale  with  fury  she  did  dreel, 
A'  roads  to  her  were  good  and  bad  alike ; 
Nane  o't  she  wyl'd,  but  fonvard  on  did  streak.  — Eoss's  Helenore. 

1  was  certain  it  was  n't  no  fox  or  wolf,  but  a  dog ;  and  if  I  did  n't  streak  off  like 
greased  lightnin'.  —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  78. 

I  streaked  it  for  Washington,  and  it  was  wellnigh  upon  midnight  when  I  reached 
the  White  House.  —  Maj.  Downing' s  Letters,  p.  91. 

When  I  did  get  near,  he  'd  stop  and  look,  cock  his  ears,  and  give  a  snuflf,  as  if  he  'd 
never  seen  a  man  afore,  and  then  streak  it  off  as  if  I  had  been  an  Indian.  —  Porter's 
Tales  of  the  South-West,  p.  165. 

As  soon  as  I  touclied  land  I  streaked  it  for  home,  as  hard  as  I  could  lay  legs  to 
the  ground.  — S.  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  59. 

*T  was  a  satisfaction  to  have  such  a  horse,  and  'twas  a  pleasure  to  crop  him,  and 
streak  it  away,  at  a  brusliing  canter,  for  a  good  five  miles  at  a  stretch.  — Simms^ 
Wigwam  and  Cabin,  p.  85. 


S  T  R  457 

What  brings  a  duck  a  streaking  it  down  stream  if  humans  aint  behind  her  1  and 
who  's  in  these  diggins  but  Indians  ?  — Ruxton,  Far  West,  p.  79. 

How  many  do  I  see  around  me,  that  willingly  permit  the  worm  of  conniption  to 
gnaw  at  their  already  moth-eaten  morals  !  All !  their  name  is  Legion  ;  and  the  way 
they  are  streaking  it  down  the  dark  road  to  ruin,  is  sorrowful  to  steam  locomotives. 
—  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  III.  p.  108. 

Streaked  Bass.     Striped  bass.     New  England. 

Stretch.      On  a  stretch  is  continuously ;  without  cessation. 

Chunky  used  to  whistle  tlu'cc  days  and  nights  07i  a  sti-etck.  —  Traits  of  American 
Humor. 

Stretcher.  1.  A  well-burnt  and  smooth  brick  used  for  fronts  of  buildings. 
Under-burnt  bricks  are  called  salmon  bricks  from  their  light  color ;  and 
over-burnt  and  partially  vitrified  bricks  are  called  arch  and  pillar  bricks, 
from  their  position  in  the  kiln. 

2.  A  falsehood.     Colloquial  in  England  and  with  us. 

"Wlienever  Mrs.  Oscar  Dust  told  a  stretcher,  old  Waters  was  expected  to  swear  to 
it.  —  Field,  Drama  at  Pokerville. 

Stricken.  "  This  ancient  participle,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  "  is  much  used 
in  Congress  and  our  other  legislative  assemblies.  A  member  moves  that 
certain  parts  of  a  bill  should  be  stricken  out,"  etc.  —  Vocabulary. 

The  use  of  the  word  referred  to  by  Mr.  Pickering  is  peculiar  to  us, 
though  there  are  examples  of  its  occasional  use  in  England  applied  in 
other  ways. 

Many  of  the  foreigners  were  much  stricken  with  the  splendor  of  the  scene. — Lon- 
don Statesman,  June  10,  1814. 

Strike.  An  instrument  with  a  straight  edge  for  levelling  a  measure,  a 
strickle.  —  Worcester.  To  sell  by  the  strike,  is  not  to  heap  up  the  arti- 
cle, as  is  usually  done  with  potatoes,  apples,  etc.,  but  to  scrape  off  what  is 
above  the  level  of  the  top,  as  in  selling  grain,  salt,  or  the  hke.  In  Mas- 
sachusetts it  is  provided  that. 

Cranberries  and  all  other  berries  shall  be  sold  by  the  strike  or  level  measure,  the 
same  as  flax-seed  and  other  similar  articles  are  measured.  — Laws  of  Massachusetts. 

Striker.     A  bruiser  ;  a  ruffian. 

String.     1.  A  row ;  number ;  lot. 

Here 's  a  whole  string  of  Whig  Congressmen  elected  by  the  State  of  New  York.  — 
New  York  Tribune. 

2.  A  common  name  among  teamsters  for  a  whip. 

With  some  judicious  touches  of  the  string,  the  horses  are  induced  to  struggle  as  for 
their  lives.  — Mj-s.  Clavers,  A  New  Home,  p.  9. 

String-Beans.    The  common  name  for  French  beans ;  so  called  from  the^ 

39 


458  STR  — STU 

string-like  fibre  stripped  from  the  side  of  tlie  pod  in  preparing  it  for  the 
table.     See  Bush-bean. 

Stripe.     Pattern,  kind,  sort. 

Den,  if  he  was  of  de  right  stripe  he  went  straight  to  glory,  and  is  now  a  shoutin' 
hallelujah  wid  de  great  congregation  in  do  New  Jerusalem.  — Emma  Bartlett. 

The  call  of  the  Soft-shell  Convention  was  signed  by  twelve  men  of  the  Free-Soil 
Buffalo  stripe.  —  N.  Y.  Herald,  July  7,  1856. 

The  Yankee,  though  cosmopolite  in  general  and  personally  polite  in  particular, 
cherishes  at  heart  a  great  sympathy  for  his  own  stripe,  even  when  he  hides  it,  Hke  tlie 
ground  work  of  a  rising  speculation,  froni  the  world.  — Mace  Sloper,  in  Knickerbocker 
Mag.,  March,  1856. 

Striped  Bass.  {Lahrax  lineatus.)  One  of  the  most  highly  esteemed 
fishes  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  called  also  Streaked  Bass  and  Rock  fish. 

Striped  Ground  Squirrel.     See  Ghipmuh. 

Strong.  To  go  it  strong,  means  to  do  a  thing  with  energy  or  persever- 
ance.    See  Go  it  strong. 

The  pilot  on  duty  above ;  another  was  calling  out  the  Captain,  who  went  it  strong 
at  cards.  — Porter's  Tales  of  the  South-West,  p.  107. 

You  should  go  it,  remarked  Spifflekins,  go  it  strong,  that 's  the  way  to  scatter  the 
blue  devils,  go  it  strong.  — Neal's  Peter  Ploddy,  p.  46. 

Struck  under  Conviction.  Impressed  with  a  sense  of  personal  sinful- 
ness. 

To  Stub,  or  Stump.  "  To  stub  one's  toe,"  is  to  strike  it  against  any  thing 
in  walking  or  running.  An  expression  often  used  by  boys  and  others  who 
go  barefoot. 

Lives  there  a  Yankee 
Wlio,  if  he  stubs  his  toe  and  fall, 
Do  n't  want  to  swear,  but,  great  or  small. 
Will  vent  his  ire  with,  "  Dam  it  all ! 

By  golly !  "  —  Yankee  Philosophy. 

Stuck.     1.  To  be  stuck,  is  to  be  stuck  fast,  unable  to  proceed. 

My  dear  hearers,  I'm  stuck  to  begin  with.  When  I  want  ideas,  they  never  come, 
they  are  off  playing  truant.  —  Doio's  Sermons,  Vol.  III. 

2.  To  be  taken  in ;  to  be  taken  advantage  of  in  a  trade.     To  be  stuck 
with  a  thing,  is  to  have  an  unsalable  article  foisted  upon  one. 

We  're  the  only  Eastern  folks  in  the  Yonkville  Stock,  unless  Mr.  Sloper  will  take 
a  few  shares,  and  of  course  anybody  else  may  be  stuck  and  be  darned.  — Mace  Sloper, 
in  Knickerbocker  Mag.,  March,  1856. 

We  got  stuck  with  a  bad  lot  of  paper,  and  were  obliged  to  stick  it  on  to  our  read- 
ers. —  Providence  Journal, 

To  Stuff.    To  quiz. 


STU  459 

Stuffexixg.  Stuffing;  seasoning  for  meat  or  poultry,  usually  made  of 
bread  and  herbs  to  give  it  a  higher  relish.     Western. 

By  way  of  amends  [for  the  dried  up  turkey]  quarts  of  gra\'y  were  judiciously 
emptied  on  our  plates  fVom  the  wash-basin  bowls.  That  also  moistened  the  atuffenin 
composed  of  Indian  meal  and  sausages. — Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  182. 

Stuffy.  Angry  or  sulky ;  obstinate.  Colloquial  in  the  United  States.  — 
Worcester. 

Stump.  The  part  of  a  tree  remaining  in  the  earth  after  the  free  is  cut 
down.  This,  in  the  Western  countries,  was  made  use  of  as  the  most  con- 
venient stand  from  which  to  address  the  people.  Hence,  to  take  the  stump 
is  to  go  on  an  electioneering  campaign. 

To  Stump.     1.   To  challenge.    Also  to  puzzle,  confound. 

Dabbs  turns  up  his  nose  at  betting.  Instead  of  stumping  his  antagonist  by  launch- 
ing out  his  cash,  he  shakes  a  portentous  fist  under  his  nose,  and  the  affair  is  settled. 
—  Neal's  Charcoal  Sketches. 

When  you  see  Lord  Sydenham,  stump  him ;  and  ask  him,  when  a  log  is  hewed 
and  squared,  if  he  can  tell  the  tenth  side  of  it.  —  Sam  Slick. 

Heavens  and  earth  !  thinks  I,  what  does  all  this  mean  1  I  knowed  I  had  n't  done 
any  tiling  to  be  put  in  prison  for,  and  I  never  was  so  stumped.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Court- 
ship, p.  135. 

I  put  a  conundram  to  them.  They  were  all  stumpt,  and  gave  it  up.  —  Crockett's 
Tour. 

2.  To  Stump  it,  is  a  cant  phrase  signifying  to  make  electioneering 
speeches  in  favor  of  oneself.  —  Worcester.  This  is  a  term  borrowed  from 
the  backwoods,  where  the  stump  of  a  tree  often  supplies  the  place  of  the 
English  hustings. 

While  I  was  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  I  heard  a  political  speech  from  General  Shields, 
who  was  at  that  time  stumping  it  through  the  State,  as  a  candidate  for  the  Senate  in 
place  of  Mr.  Brcese.  —  Lett,  from  Illinois,  N.  Y.  Com.  Adv. 

It  is  understood  that  Col.  Benton  intends  to  stump  the  State  [of  Missouri]  as  a 
candidate  for  the  gubernatorial  chair. — New  York  Courier. 

Stump  Orator.  A  man  who  harangues  the  people  from  the  stump  of  a 
tree  or  other  elevation. 

Stump  Oratory.     The  sort  of  popular  speaking  used  by  stump  orators. 

Stump  Speaker.    A  popular  political  speaker. 

The  Hon.  W.  K.  Thompson  of  Indiana,  one  of  the  most  popular  stump  speakers 
of  the  day,  addressed  a  large  meeting  of  Whigs  from  the  stoop  of  Bamum's  Hotel, 
Baltimore,  in  support  of  the  nominations  of  the  late  Whig  Convention.  —  Letter 
from  Washington,  N.  Y.  Herald,  June  21,  1848. 

Stump  Speech.     A  speech  made  from  a  stump  or  other  elevation ;  i.  e.  an 


460  STU— sue 

electioneering  speech  in  favor  of  one's  self  or  some  other  political  candi- 
date. 

We  had  of  course  a  passion  for  stump  speaking.  But  recollect,  we  often  mount 
the  stump  only  figuratively ;  and  very  good  stuiiip  speeches  are  delivered  from  a  table, 
a  chair,  a  whiskey-barrel,  and  the  like.  Sometimes  we  make  the  best  stump  speeches 
on  horseback. —  Carlton,  The  New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  211. 

When  you  see  a  politician  extra  full  of  patriotism,  and  stuffed  with  stump  speeches, 
you  may  take  it  for  granted  he  wants  office  either  for  himself  or  for  some  particular 
friend.  — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  132. 

Stujipage.  The  sum  paid  to  owners  of  land  for  the  privilege  of  cutting 
the  timber  growing  thereon.     State  of  Maine. 

Stumper.     A  puzzler. 

My  note  was  a  stumper  to  Sally ;  so  she  got  Jess  to  explain  it,  and  the  way  he  did 
it  was  enormous.  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

Stun,  for  stone,  so  pronounced  in  the  back  parts  of  New  England. 

Captain  Stone,  I  've  been  clean  away  amongst  the  Yankees,  where  they  call  your 
name  Stunn.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  145. 

Sturtion.     a  common  pronunciation  for  nasturtium. 

To  Stutter.  To  saunter  lazily,  with  a  slip-shod  movement.  This  is  not 
a  common  word.  I  have  never  met  with  it  except  in  the  example  quo- 
ted. 

I  stuttered  up  to  No.  4  yesterday  arter  the  funeral ;  but  they  arc  so  grown  over 
with  rum  there,  you  can  hardly  tell  what  is  nater  and  what  is  not.  —  Margaret, 
p.  327. 

SuANT,  or  Suent.  Even;  uniform;  spread  equally  over  the  surface. 
Provincial  in  England.  —  Holloway.  Used  by  farmers  in  some  parts  of 
New  England,  and  applied  thus .:  "  The  grain  is  sowed  suant,"  i.  e.  even- 
ly ;  regularly.  —  Pichering. 

Succession  Sale.  A  sale  of  property  to  enable  the  heirs  to  divide  the 
same. 

At  the  succession  sale  of  the  slaves  belonging  to  the  minor  heirs  of  S.  A.  and  A. 
X.  Baillie,  at  the  court-house  [of  Rapides],  on  Saturday,  17th  inst.,  long  sums 
were  bid.  — Louisiana  Democrat,  July  20,  1858. 

Suck  in,  or  Suck.    A  cheat,  deception. 

Heaven  forbid  that  I  sliould  utter  a  syllable  of  complaint ;  but  I  can't  help  saying 
it  confidentially,  and  before  man  alone,  that  life  is  all  moonshine  —  a  monstrous 
humbug  —  a  grand  suck  in.  — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  II.  p.  316. 

To  Suck  in.  To  take  in ;  to  cheat ;  to  deceive.  A  figurative  expression, 
probably  drawn  from  a  sponge,  which  sucks  up  water.  To  be  sucked  in, 
is  to  be  "  sponged  "  out  of  one's  money,  or  to  be  cheated  in  a  bargain. 
It  is  a  low  expression,  though  often  heard,  and  is  understood  by  all. 


sue  461 

"I  ixin't  bound  to  drive  no'body  in  the  middle  of  the  night,"  siiid  the  driver  ;  "  so 
you  don't  try  to  suck  me  in  there."  —  Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  109. 

"Who  was  the  first  unfortunate  speculator  1  Jonah.  Ah  !  why  ?  Because  he  got 
sucked  in  !  —  Newspaper. 

SuCKATASH,  or  SuccOTASH.  (Narraganset  Ind.,  msichquatash,  com 
boiled  whole.)  Green  Indian  corn  and  beans  boiled  together.  It  is  a 
favorite  dish  wherever  these  plants  are  cultivated. 

Joel  Barlow,  in  his  poem  on  Hasty-pudding,  thus  compares  succotash 

with  it : 

Let  tlie  green  succotash  with  thee  contend, 

Let  beans  and  com  their  sweetest  juices  lend  ; 

Not  all  the  plate,  how  fam'd  soe'er  it  be, 

Can  please  my  palate  like  a  bowl  of  thee.  —  Canto  I.  p.  6. 

At  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  Rhode  Island, 
held  in  Providence,  1836,  an  Indian  banquet  in  the  style  of  those  of  the 
olden  time  was  given. 

An  Indian  mat  being  spread  out,  a  large  wooden  platter  well  filled  with  boiled 
bass  graced  the  centre,  supported  on  one  side  by  a  wooden  dish  of  parched  com, 
and  on  the  other  by  a  similar  one  of  succotash.  —  Stone's  Life  of  Howland,  p.  262. 

The  wise  Huron  is  welcome  ;  he  is  come  to  eat  his  succotash  with  his  brothers  of 
the  lakes  !  —  Cooper,  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans,  p.  426. 

Sucker.  1.  A  tube  used  for  sucking  sherry  cobblers.  They  are  made  of 
silver,  glass,  straw,  or  sticks  of  maccaroni. 

2.  A  very  common  fish  of  the  genus  labeo,  and  of  which  there  are 
many  varieties,  including  the  Chub,  Mullet,  Barbel,  Horned  Dace,  etc. 
They  are  found  in  most  of  the  lakes  and  rivers  of  North  America. 

3.  A  greenhorn  ;  an  ignorant  clown.     Western. 

I  had  n't  time  to  load  my  gun  before  the  bear  gathered  upon  him  like  a  Virginny 
blood-mare,  and  the  nigger  give  himself  up  for  a  gone  sucker,  and  fainted  away.  — 
Crockett's  Bear  Adventure. 

4.  A  hard  drinker ;  a  drunkard. 

5.  A  mean,  low  fellow  ;  a  sponger. 

Of  the  scaly  tribe  I  may  mention  those  suckers  belonging  to  the  body  loaferish, 
that  never  rise  to  the  surface  of  respectability,  whose  sole  study  appears  to  be  to  see 
liow  much  they  can  get  without  the  least  physical  exertion.  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol. 
III. 

6.  A  nickname  applied  throughout  the  West  to  a  native  of  Illinois. 
The  origin  of  this  term  is  as  follows  : 

The  Western  prairies  are,  in  many  places,  full  of  the  holes  made  by 
the  crawfish,  which  descends  to  the  water  beneath.  In  early  times, 
when  travellers  wended  their  way  over  these  immense  plains,  they  very 
prudently  provided  themselves  with  a  long  hollow  weed,  and  wdien  thirsty, 
thrust  it  into  these  natural  artesians,  and  thus  easily  supplied  their  long- 

39* 


462  SUG  — SUI 

ings.  The  crawfisli-well  generally  contains  pure  water,  and  the  manner 
in  which  the  traveller  drew  forth  the  refreshing  element  gave  him  the 
name  of  "  Sucker."  —  Lett,  from  Illinois,  in  Providence  Journal. 

A  band  of  music  was  sent  tliirty  miles  to  wake  up  the  sleepy  suckers,  and  draw 
them,  by  the  magic  of  their  music,  to  the  Douglas  gathering  at  Quincy,  Illinois.  — 
N.  Y.  Tribune,  Oct.  19,  1854. 

Sugar  Apple.     See  Sweetsop. 

Sugar  Berry.     See  HacJcberry. 

Sugar  Bush.  A  collection  of  trees  of  the  sugar  maple,  generally  in  the 
midst  of  a  primitive  forest,  where  maple-sugar  is  made  by  boiling  the  sap 
of  the  tree.     These  are  sometimes  called  sugar  orchards. 

Going  into  the  sugar  bush  has  something  of  the  excitement  which  the  forester  loves 
so  well  to  mingle  with  all  his  work.  —  The  Americans  at  Home,  "Vol.  I. 

Sugar  Camp.  The  place  where  the  sap  is  collected  from  a  sugar  bush 
and  boiled. 

Sugar  Maple.  (^Acer  saccharinum.)  A  handsome  forest  tree  from  fifty 
to  eighty  feet  high,  from  the  sap  of  which  is  made  the  well  known  rnaple 
sugar.  The  wood  is  valuable  for  fuel ;  and  accidental  varieties  of  it  are 
the  bird's-eye  maple  and  curled  maple  of  cabinet-makers. 

Some  verses  on  the  Corn-plant  and  Sugar  Maple,  in  Putnam's  Maga- 
zine, end  thus : 

But  if  our  brothers  break  the  chain. 

We  '11  hang  by  our  own  staples  ; 
Three  cheers  we  '11  raise  for  Indian  Com, 
And  nine  for  Sugar  Maples. 

Sugar  Orchard.  A  collection  of  maple  trees  selected  and  preserved  in 
the  forest  for  the  purpose  of  making  sugar  therefrom.  Conip.  Sugar 
Bush.  • 

Sugar  Tree.  The  name  much  used  in  the  "West  for  the  sugar  maple,  in 
which  connection  the  word  maple  is  never  used.  Thus,  in  purchasing 
firewood,  it  is  usual  to  bargain  for  hickory,  sugar,  ash,  etc. 

•Suit.  In  the  Middle  and  Southern  States  especially,  a  head  of  hair  is 
called,  queerly  enough,  a  "  suit  of  hair,"  as  in  the  following  description 
by  Dr.  J.  S.  Cartwright,  of  New  Orleans,  of  a  "  strong-minded  woman." 

Her  head  was  large,  and  features  prominent  and  rather  masculine.  But  in  every 
other  respect  her  appearance  was  highly  feminine  ;  her  form  symmetrical ;  her  skin 
fair,  smooth,  and  soft,  and  her  well-developed  limbs  tapering  into  unusually  small 
hands  and  feet.  She  had  a  thick  suit  of  black  hair ;  and,  although  siie  had  reached 
her  fortieth  year,  it  had  not  begun  to  turn  gray,  so  active  was  her  capillary  circula- 
tion.—  Boston  Med.  and  Surg.  Journal,  Oct.  18,  1854. 


SUL  — SUP  463 

The  face  of  this  gentleman  was  strikingly  marked  by  a  suit  of  enormous  black 
whiskers  that  flowed  together  and  united  under  his  chin.  —  Margaret,  p.  289. 

Sulphur.  Bitumen.  In  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  the  bituminous  rocks 
abound  in  sulphur  springs,  and  by  a  singular  confusion  the  odor  of  bitu- 
men, Avhere  no  sulphur  is  present,  is  yet  called  sulphur. 

To  Summarize.     To  make  a  summary  of. 

The   National  Intelligencer,  in  speaking  of   the  publications  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  says : 

Additional  papers  are  summarized  in  the  Report,  all  of  them  making  considerable 
advances  upon  the  heretofore  unappropriated  domains  of  science.  — Aug.  31,  1857. 

To  Summons.  To  serve  with  a  summons.  Applied  to  the  courts  and 
colleges.     "  He  was  summonsed  to  appear  before  the  faculty." 

Mary  looked  at  me  and  winked,  and  says  she,  "  You  're  one  of  the  court,  you 
know,  Major ;  but  jest  go  out  until  the  court  is  summonsed  before  the  throne."  —  Maj. 
Jones's  Courtship. 

SuN-BoJsNET.  A  home-made  bonnet,  with  a  large  "  cape,"  so  as  to  shield 
both  the  face  and  neck,  much  worn  by  women  and  girls  in  the  country. 

Sundown.     Sunset.     Peculiar  to  the  United  States. 

SuN-FiSH.  {^Pomotis  vulgaris.)  A  beautiful  little  fresh-water  fish,  so 
called  from  its  glittering  colors.  Fi'om  the  numerous  spots  on  its  sides, 
it  is  often  called  Pumpkin  Seed ;  and  in  some  locahties  it  goes  by  the 
name  of  Bream. 

Sun-Squall.  A  term  applied,  on  the  coast  of  New  England,  to  the  Medu- 
sae, or  Sea-Nettles.  It  appears  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Germ.  Schirm- 
qualle  (lit.  umbrella  jelly-fish).     See  Gall. 

About  Boston  harbor  they  are  called  Sun-Jish,  a  still  further  corrup- 
tion. 

Sun-up.  Southern  for  sunrise.  When  the  Southern  traveller  starts  on  his 
journey  before  the  appearance  of  the  sun  in  the  morning,  he  says  he 
"  put  out  bright  and  yarly,  an  hour  (or  half  an  hour,  as  the  case  may  be) 
before  sun-up." 

One  would  think  that  such  a  horse  as  that  might  get  over  a  good  deal  of  ground 
atwixt  sun-up  and  sundown.  —  Cooper,  Last  of  the  Mohegans,  p.  50. 

SuPAWN.  An  Indian  name  in  universal  use  in  New  England,  New  York, 
and  other  Northern  States,  for  boiled  Indian  meal.  It  is  also  called 
hasty  pudding,  which  see. 

The  common  food  of  the  Indians  is  pap,  or  mush,  which  in  the  New  Netherlands 
is  named  supaen.     This  is  so  common  among  them,  that  they  seldom  pass  a  day 


464  SUP  — SUR 

without  it,  unless  they  are  on  a  journey  or  hunting.  We  seldom  visit  an  Indian 
lodge  at  any  time  of  day,  without  seeing  their  supaen  preparing,  or  seeing  tliem  eat- 
ing the  same.  It  is  the  common  food  of  all ;  and  so  fond  of  it  arc  they,  that  when 
they  visit  our  people,  or  each  otiier,  they  consider  themselves  neglected  unless  they 
are  treated  with  supaen.  —  Van  der  Donck's  New  Netherlands  (1656),  N,  Y.  Hist.  Soc. 
Collections. 

The  flour  [of  maize]  makes  a  substantial  sort  of  porridge,  called  by  the  Ameri- 
cans supporne ;  this  is  made  with  water,  and  eaten  with  milk.  —  Backwoods  of  Can- 
ada, p.  189. 

E'en  in  tliy  native  regions,  how  I  blush 

To  hear  the  Pennsylvanians  call  thee  mush  ! 

On  Hudson's  banks  while  men  of  Belgic  spawn 

Insult  and  eat  thee  by  the  name  suppawn. 

Barloio,  Hasty  Pudding. 

For  many  heroes  bold  and  brave. 

From  Newbiidge  and  Tappan, 
And  tliose  that  drink  Passaic's  wave, 

And  those  who  eat  suppawn. 

Maj.  Andre,  The  Cow  Chase,  1780. 

Supple-Jack.  1.  (Berchemia  voluUUs.)  A  creeper  growing  in  damp 
soils  in  Virginia  and  further  south.  "  The  vine,"  says  Flint,  "  resembles 
that  of  the  muscadine  grape ;  but  the  olive  color  is  deeper.  It  is  well 
known  to  attach  itself  so  strongly  to  the  shrub  it  entwines,  as  to  cause 
those  curious  spiral  curves  and  inner  flattenings  that  give  its  singularity 
and  value  to  the  supple-jack  cane."  —  Geogr.  of  Miss.  Valley. 

2.    A  child's  toy,  a  jointed  manikin  worked  by  a  string.     Called  also 
a  Jumping  Jack. 

Sure.  Surely  ;  certainly.  "Are  you  going?"  "I'm  going  sure"  or 
"  sure  and  certain."     South-western. 

"  There,  do  you  see  that  horse  1 "  said  Jack.    "  He  's  a  d d  good  horse.    He 's 

not  much  to  look  at ;  but  once  get  him  a  going,  and  he  '11  go  through  h — 11  itself,  if 
you  put  him  at  it.  Get  on,  Kendall,  and  I  '11  mount  beliind,  and  show  you  sights  — 
I  will  sure."  —  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Sure-enough.  Real  ;  genuine.  Used  in  the  South  and  West  in  the 
same  manner  as  fair  is  in  New  York.  As,  "  This  is  a  sure-enough 
egg ; "  meaning  that  it  is  a  real  and  not  an  imitation  one.  In  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  absurd  ceremonies  observed  on  shipboard  in  "  crossing  the 
line,"  a  writer  says : 

The  subject  was  seated  in  the  chair,  some  six  feet  from  tlie  deck,  where  the  barber, 
standing  on  a  platform  before  him,  thrust  a  white-wash  brush  into  a  bucket  of  soap- 
suds, and  lathered  his  face  with  great  liberality ;  then,  drawing  from  a  canvas  bag 
his  case  of  extensive  razors  (rusty  iron  hoops),  went  through  all  tiie  movements  of 
a  sure-enou(jh  barber.  —  U.  S.  Nautical  Mag.,  Dec.,  1855. 

Sueface-Boat.     See  Battery. 


SUR— SWA  465 

Surprise  Candidate.  A  fresh  candidate  suddenly  put  up  and  supported 
by  the  wire  workers  of  an  election,  to  subserve  purposes  of  their  own. 

In  a  judicial  district  a  "surprise  candidate,"  scarce  known  as  a  lawyer  or  to  the  peo- 
ple beyond  the  local  court  in  which  he  practised,  was  run,  as  since  understood,  to  aid 
in  breaking  down  one  of  two  able  and  unobjectionable  candidates  for  the  Su- 
preme Bench  of  the  State,  who  had  been  nominated  in  the  conventions  of  the  two  op- 
posing political  parties.  —  National  Intelligencer,  Sept.  20,  1858. 

Surprise  Party.  A  party  of  persons  who  assemble  by  agreement,  and 
without  invitation,  at  the  house  of  a  mutual  friend. 

Surrogate.  In  American  law,  a  county  officer  who  has  jurisdiction  in 
granting  letters  testamentaiy  and  letters  of  administration,  and  of  other 
matters  relating  to  the  settlement  of  the  estates  of  testators  and  intestates. 

—  Kent's  Commentaries,  Vol.  II.  p.  409. 

Surround.  A  frequent  mode  of  hunting  the  buffiilo  by  the  Indians,  con- 
sists in  making  a  "  surround."  This  is  done  by  inclosing  a  large  herd, 
and  driving  them  over  a  precipice  upon  the  rocks,  or  into  one  of  the  pro- 
found ravines  which  intersect  the  prairies  in  various  directions.  In  this 
way  thousands  are  sometimes  kiUed  in  a  single  day.  —  S.  F.  Baird. 

Surveyor.  One  of  the  chief  officers  of  the  large  U.  S.  Custom-houses.  It 
is  the  duty  of  the  surveyor  to  superintend  and  direct  the  inspectors, 
weighers,  gangers,  and  measurers  at  his  port ;  but  he  is,  in  all  cases,  to  be 
subject  to  the  coUeaor.  —  Act  of  March  2,  1799. 

To  Suspicion,  for  to  suspect.     South. 

If  he  had  a  suspicioned  I  was  thar,  he'd  no  more  swore  than  he'd  dared  to  kiss  my 
Sal  on  a  washing  day ;  for  you  see  both  on  us  belonged  to  the  same  cliurch.  —  3Iike 
Hooter,  by  a  Missourian. 

Sutor.  a  syrup  made  from  the  juice  of  the  fruit  of  the  "pitahaya"  (Ce- 
reus  giganteus)  by  the  Indians  near  the  river  Gila. 

Suzz  !  A  corrupt  pronunciation  of  sirs  !  An  exclamation  much  used  in 
New  England,  as  sirs  is  in  Scotland.  It  is  sometimes  lengthened  into 
Law,  suzz  I  i.  e.  Lord,  sirs ! 

Swad,  or  SwOD.   In  New  England,  a  lump,  mass,  or  bunch ;  also,  a  crowd. 

—  Webster.     It  is  an  old  English  colloquialism. 

There  was  a  swad  of  fine  folks,  and  the  house  was  wellnigh  upon  chuck  full.  — 3Iaj. 
Downing's  Letters,  p.  35. 

How  is  a  colonist  able  to  pay  for  this  ahnighty  swad  of  everlasting  plunder,  seein' 
he  has  no  gold  or  silver.  —  Sam  Slick,  3d  Ser.  ch.  6. 

Swale.  A  local  word  in  New  England,  signifying  an  interval  or  vale ;  a 
tract  of  low  land.  —  Webster.     This  word  is  provincial  in  Norfolk,  Eng- 


466  SWA 

land,  and  means  a  low  place ;  and  shade,  in  opposition  to  sunshine.  — 
Forhy's  Vocabulary. 

To  Swamp.  To  plunge  into  inextricable  difficulties.  —  Webster.  This  use 
of  the  word  is  not  in  the  English  dictionaries.  It  is  common  in  the  United 
States,  though  not  elegant.  Ex.  "  He  invested  a  large  sum  of  money  in 
land  speculations,  which  swamped  him ; "  i.  e.  ruined  him. 

I  Swamp  it  !    A  euphemistic  form  of  oath. 

Had  that  darn'd  old  vessel,  that  frigate  there,  bin  a  stone's  throw  farder  off  from 
land,  I  should  never  have  swimraed  to  shore,  dead  or  alive,  to  all  eternity,  I  swamp 
it !  —  D.  Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  England. 

Swamp  Honeysuckle.  {Azalea  nudifiora.)  A  plant  flowering  in 
April  and  May,  which  grows  in  the  swamps  from  Massachusetts  to 
Virginia.     It  is  also  called  May- Apple  and  Pinxter  Blumachy. 

Swamp  Pink.  (Azalea  viscosa.)  A  popular  name  for  the  Swamp-Honey- 
suckle. 

Swamping.  Very  large ;  huge.  The  word  swapping  is  used  in  the  same 
sense  in  the  west  of  England. 

And  there  we  saw  a  swamping  gun, 

Large  as  a  log  of  maple. 
Upon  a  deuced  little  cart, 

A  load  for  father's  cattle.  —  Song,  Yankee  Doodle. 

I  Swan,  or  Swon  !  A  New  England  euphemism  for  "  I  swear!"  I  swan 
to  man  !  is  a  heightened  form  of  the  same. 

"  Well,  I  swan ! "  exclaimed  the  mamma,  giving  a  round  box  on  the  ear  to  a  dirty 
little  urchin ;  "  what  made  you  let  the  little  huzzy  have  your  specs  ?  "  — Mrs.  Clavers's 
Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  29. 

I  took  a  turn  round  Halifex,  and  I  swan  if  it  aint  the  thundcrincst,  drearyest  place 
I  ever  seen,  and  the  people  they  call  Blue-noses.  —  Hiram  Bigelow's  Lett,  in  Family 
Companion. 

I  was  dressed  tarnation  slick.  I  guess  I  rubbed  tAvo  tallow  candles  or  thereabouts 
into  my  hair,  trying  to  make  it  curl ;  but  I  swan  to  man  there  warn't  no  curl  to  it,  for 
it  stuck  out  for  all  sense  like  porcupine  quills.  —  Hill's  Yankee  Stories. 

Well,  I've  jest  come  to  New  York,  and  its  the  darndest  place,  I  swan  to  man,  that 
you'd  wish  to  see.  —  Story  of  Uncle  Ben,  recited  by  Hackett. 

S  WANG  A.  An  African  word  used  among  the  negroes  in  some  parts  of  the 
South  in  connection  with  buchra,  white  man  ;  as  swanga  buckra,  meaning 
a  dandy  white  man,  or  literally,  a  dandy  devil.  A  friend  in  South  Caro- 
lina informs  me  that  the  negroes  there  apply  the  term  to  persons  who 
carry  themselves  conceitedly.  Thus  of  one  who  is  strutting  about  in  a 
new  suit  of  clothes,  they  will  say,  "  He  kin'  o'  swanga  now." 


S  W  A  —  S  W I  467 

To  SwANT.     To  wash,  as  "  to  swant  the  decks."    A  seaman's  word. 

Swap,  or  Swop.  An  exchange ;  a  barter.  Mr.  Pickering's  remark  ap- 
plies to  the  noun  as  well  as  to  the  verb. 

I  'm  for  a  short  talk  in  a  hox&s-swap,  and  always  tell  a  gentlemen  what  I  wish  to 
do.  —  Georgia  Scenes,  p.  28. 

To  Swap,  or  Swop.     To  exchange  ;  to  barter.  —  Johnson. 

This  word  has  often  been  noticed  by  English  travellers  in  this  country, 
and  may  perhaps  be  more  common  here  than  in  England ;  but  it  is  also 
used  by  the  vulgar  in  that  country.  —  Pickering. 

Clocks,  nutmegs,  and  whatever  else. 

You  call  a  Yankee  crop, 
If  you  have  cash,  he 's  glad  to  sell ; 

If  not,  he  '11  always  swap  ! 
For  he  was  bom  a  merchant,  sir, 

A  Yankee  trader  bold. 
Who  swapped  his  whistle  for  a  knife 

When  only  four  years  old.  —  AUin,  Yankee  Ballad. 

SwAsn,  or  SwosH.  In  the  Southern  States  of  America,  a  name  given  to 
a  narrow  sound  or  channel  of  water  lying  within  a  sand  bank,  or  between 
that  and  the  shore.  Many  such  are  found  on  the  shores  of  the  Carolinas. 
—  Webster. 

After  noon  I  crossed  the  swash  at  the  east  end  of  the  bay,  and  in  the  evening  got 
into  good  quarters.  —  Bartram's  Florida,  p.  472. 

Swat,  or  Savot.  A  knock;  a  blow.  Vulgar.  A  North  of  England 
word. 

To  Swat,  or  Swot.     To  strike,  smite.     A  low  word. 

Tell  me  that  again,  and  I  '11  sicot  you  over  the  mug.  —  Report  of  the  Hunker  Meet- 
ing in  Albany,  June,  1 848. 

Sweet  Hepper  Bush.     See  Alder. 

Sweet-Sop.  (^Annona  squamosa.)  An  evergreen  shrub,  which  bears  a 
greenish  colored  fruit.  It  is  also  called  Custard  Apple  and  Sugar  Ap- 
ple.    West  Indies. 

Sweet-scented  Shrub.     See  Allspice. 

Swell-head.     See  Bighead,  No.  2. 

Swill-Boys.    A  gang  of  New  York  rowdies. 

Swill-Milk.     The  milk  of  cows  fed  on  the  refuse  of  distilleries. 

To  Swinge.  To  singe.  Provincial  in  various  parts  of  England.  —  Hal- 
liwell. 


468  SWI  — TAG 

The  weather  has  been  monstrous  hot  here,  and  I  do  n't  think  I  ever  did  see  things 
jest  sprawled  out  and  swinged  up  so  with  the  sun  before.  — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p. 
185. 

Swingle-Tail.  {Alopius  vulpes.)  The  popular  name  for  the  Thresher 
Shark,  from  the  use  it  makes  of  its  long,  flexible  tail,  "  with  which,"  says 
Dr.  De  Kay,  "  it  literally  threshes  its  enemies."  —  Nat.  Hist,  of  New 
York. 

Switch.  The  movable  rails  and  appendages  for  turning  the  cars  on  a 
railroad  from  one  track  to  another.  The  term  is  now  getting  into  use  in 
England. 

Now  Tom,  you  skunk,  this  is  the  third  time  you  forgot  to  set  on  that  switch,  and 
the  last  time  there  was  twenty  people  went  under,  and  the  balance  was  bruized  ;  so 
mind  what  you  're  about,  and  don't  forget  the  switch  again,  or  I'm  darned  if  I  don't 
tell  tlie  boss  (station  master).  —  Notes  on  Canada  and  the  U.  S.,  Blackwood,  Sept., 
1855. 

SwiTCHEL.  Molasses  and  water,  to  which,  sometimes,  a  little  vinegar  is 
added.     A  common  beverage  in  New  Elngland. 

Swot.     See  Stoat. 

To  Swot.     See  To  Swat. 

I  SwOAv!     A  New  England  euphemism  for  7  swrar.^ 

Sycamore.     See  Button-  Wood. 

Sympathizers.  A  name  given  to  those  persons  who,  during  the  Canadian 
rebellion  in  1836-37,  sympathized  with  the  malcontents,  and  wished  to 
invade  the  country. 

To  Systemize,  To  systematize.  A  word  rarely  used  by  good  writ- 
ers. —  Worcester.  Dr.  Webster,  however,  gives  it  the  preference 
over  systematize,  which  he  denounces  as  "  ill  formed."  What  would 
he  have  thought  of  dogmize  and  stiff mize,  by  way  of  "  improving "  the 
lanjiuanre  ? 


To  Table.     To  lay  on  the  table.     "  The  bill  for  distributing  the  public 
lands  among  the  States  was  tabled  by  a  large  majority." 

Tacamahac.     Another  name  for  the  Balsam  Poplar,  which  see. 

To  Tackle.     1.  To  harness ;  as,  to  tackle  a  horse  into  a  gig,  sleigh,  coach) 


TAF  — TAK  469 

or  wagon.  —  Webster.     Local  in  England  and  colloquial  in  the  United 
States. 

2.  To  seize,  to  lay  hold  of;  as,  a  wrestler  tackles  his  antagonist,  a  dog 
tackles  the  game. —  Webster.  Colloquial  in  England  and  the  United 
States. 

Well,  I  tell  you  what,  it  tuck  a  feller  mighty  wide  between  the  eyes  to  tackle  that 
tree,  for  it  was  a  whopper.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  53. 

I  shook  the  two  fellows  off  my  trunks  monstrous  quick,  and  was  going  to  tacMe 
the  chaps  what  had  "my  carpet  bag.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Travels. 

The  people  are  no  ways  backward  about  discussing  the  subject  of  Monnonism, 
over-confident  in  their  ability  to  demolish  every  Gentile  against  polygamy.  One  of 
the  gentry  tackled  Gov.  Powell  the  other  day,  determined  to  make  a  convert.  —  N.  Y. 
Times,  Aug.  9,  1858. 

Taffy.  A  common  coarse  sweet-meat,  made  with  treacle  thickened  by 
boiling.  Almonds  are  often  stuck  into  it.  Various  dialects.  —  Halli- 
well. 

Both  the  word  and  the  thing  are  well  known  among  us. 

Tag.  a  slight  touch.  A  boy,  touched  by  one  who  is  in  the  first  instance 
fixed  upon  to  commence  the  game,  is  in  his  turn  obliged  to  overtake  and 
touch  another  of  the  party,  when  he  cries.  Tag  !  and  so  the  game  pro- 
ceeds. According  to  Mr.  Halliwell,  the  same  game  is  played  in  "Warwick- 
shire, where  it  is  called  tick. 

Tailor.  A  fish  resembling  the  shad,  but  inferior  to  it  in  size  and  flavor. 
In  the  towns  on  the  Potomac,  the  Blue  fish  is  called  a  Salt-water 
tailor. 

'Taint.     A  corrupt  abbreviation  for  it  is  not. 

"  Wonder  what  time  it  is  1 "  said  Miss  Mary.  "  Oh,  taint  late,"  says  he.  "  Is 
there  going  to  be  any  preaching  here  to-morrow  ?  " — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  69. 

To  Take  to  Do.  To  take  to  task ;  to  reprove.  Colloquial  in  England 
and  in  New  England. 

The  Life  Boat,  a  weekly  sheet  in  this  city,  takes  the  Bee  to  do,  for  its  course  in  re- 
lation to  the  Liquor  Law.  —  Boston  Bee,  July  29,  1852. 

To  Take  the  Back  Track.     To  recede  from  one's  position. 

The  first  law  of  self-preservation  has  admonished  Mr.  Douglass  that  he  has  gone  as 
far  in  his  slavery  concessions  to  the  South  as  he  can  possibly  go,  and  that,  if  he  would 
save  himself  at  home,  he  must  take  the  hack  track.  —  N.  Y.  Herald,  Dec.  26,  1857. 

To  Take  the  Rag  off.     To  surpass. 

How  often  I  have  laughed  over  the  fun  of  the  forecastle.  I  would  back  it  for  wit 
against  any  bar-room  in  New  York  or  New  Orleans,  and  I  believe  they  take  the  rag 
off  all  creation.  —  S.  Slick,  Nature  and  Human  Nature,  p.  28. 

To  Take  the  Shine  off.     See  Shine,  No  1. 

40 


470  TAK  — TAL 

To  Take  a  Shute.  In  the  West,  a  person  running  away,  or  leaving  in 
a  hurry,  is  said  to  have  "  taken  a  shute." 

To  Take  on.  To  grieve ;  to  mourn,  lament.  Colloquial  in  England  and 
the  United  States. 

"  Why,  Polly,  what 's  the  matter,  gal,"  inqmred  he  ;  "  what  in  thunder  makes  you 
take  on  so  ?  Come,  out  with  the  cause,  or  I  shall  get  a  blubberin'  too."  —  RM, 
Squatter  Life. 

To  Take  up.  1.  To  take  up  animals  is  a  common  phrase  in  the  language 
of  the  prairies,  and  means  to  bring  them  in  and  prepare  them  for  a  jour- 
ney or  the  day's  march,  either  by  saddling  them,  or  harnessing  them  to  a 
wagon. 

2.  To  put  up,  as  a  traveller  at  an  inn.     Southern. 

To  Take  "Water.  To  run  away,  make  off.  A  "Western  expression, 
doubtless  borrowed  from  sportsmen. 

He  quitted  the  wheel  [of  the  steam-boat]  and  made  for  his  state-room,  where  he 
stayed  till  the  boat  reached  Natchez,  Avhen  he  took  water,  and  they  do  say  moved  to 
the  North.  —  Maj.  Bunkum,  N.  Y.  Sp.  Times. 

Talented.  Furnished  with  talents  ;  possessing  skill  or  talents.  —  Webster. 
This,  says  Todd,  is  "  an  old  word,  long  disused,  but  lately  revived."  It 
is  as  correctly  formed  as  moneyed  or  landed,  which  are  regarded  as  unex- 
ceptionable ;  yet  it  is  pretty  generally  condemned,  and  on  each  side  of 
the  water  the  responsibility  of  coining  it  is  cast  upon  the  other,  as  will 
be  seen  from  what  follows : 

The  London  Monthly  Magazine  (Sept.  1831)  blames  Mr.  Stanley  for 
using  this  word.  "  Sir  Robert  Peel  referred  it  to  his  American  associa- 
tions, and  prayed  him  never  to  employ  it  again,  with  all  the  strenuous- 
ness  of  Oxonian  adjuration."  The  Philadelphia  National  Gazette,  in 
speaking  of  the  above,  adds  :  "Sir  Robert  was  right  in  protesting  against 
the  word,  but  wrong  in  his  reference.  It  is  of  London  cockney  deriva- 
tion, and  still  more  employed  in  Great  Britain  than  in  America." 

Coleridge  says,  "I  regret  to  see  that  vile  and  barbarous  vocable, 
talented,  stealing  out  of  the  newspapers  into  the  leading  reviews  and 
most  respectable  publications  of  the  day.  "Why  not  sMlUnged,  farthinged, 
tenpeneed,  etc.  The  formation  of  a  participle  passive  from  a  noun  is  a 
license  that  nothing  but  a  very  peculiar  facility  can  excuse.  Most  of 
these  pieces  of  slang  come  from  America." —  Table  Talk,  July  8,  1832. 
Mr.  Bulwer  is  not  yet  "  talented,"  a  pseudo-particle,  which  no  one  will  use  who  is 

not  ripe  for  any  atrocity ;  but  he  "  progresses  "  at  a  fearful  rate.  —  Edinburgh  Rev., 

Vol.  LXV.  p.  240. 

Talk.     Among  the  Indians  of  North  America,  a  public  conference,  as  re- 


TAL  — TAM  471 

specting  peace  or  war,  negotiation,  and  the  like ;  or  an  official  verbal 
communication  made  from  them  to  another  nation  or  its  agents,  or  made 
to  them  by  the  same.  —  Webster. 

But  snakes  are  in  the  bosoms  of  their  race  ; 
And  though  they  held  with  us  a  friendly  talk, 
The  hollow  peace-tree  fell  beneath  their  tomahawk. 

Campbell,  Gertrude  of  Wyoming. 

To  Talk  Turkey.  To  talk  in  a  silly  manner,  talk  nonsense.  In  allu- 
sion, probably,  to  the  silly  airs  of  a  turkey-cock. 

Polly  Bean  was  not  the  first  girl  I  run  against,  by  a  long  shot ;  and  I  was  plaguy 
apt  to  talk  turkey  always  when  I  got  sociable,  if  it  was  only  out  of  politeness.  — 
McClintock,  Beedle's  Marriage. 

Talking-Iron.  A  comical  name  for  a  gun  or  rifle ;  called  also  a  shooting- 
iron,  —  on  the  same  principle  that  in  flash  language  a  pistol  is  "  a  barker," 
and  a  watch  "  a  ticker,"  and  sometimes  "  a  tattler." 

I  hops  out  of  bed,  feels  for  my  trunk,  and  outs  with  my  talkin'-iron,  that  was  all 
ready  loaded.  — Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  2. 

Tall.     1.    Great;  fine;  splendid;  extravagant.     A  flash  word. 

Stump  straightened  up  and  started  at  a  pace  that  would  have  staggered  Captain 
Barclay,  Ellsworth,  or  the  greatest  pedestrian  mentioned  in  the  annals  of  "  tall 
walking."  —  Kendall's  Santa  F^  Expedition,  Vol.  I.  p.  398. 

If  we  don't  come  out  in  force  and  do  things  open  and  above  board,  we  '11  have  a 
taJl  fight  with  the  gang.  — A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p.  129. 

The  gineral  found  the  next  day  a  sight  o'  gold  pieces  and  a  whole  pot  full  o'  the 
tallest  kind  o'  jewels.  —  The  Yankee  Among  the  Mermaids. 

Ohio  warn't  any  great  shakes  twenty  years  ago ;  but  let  me  tell  you,  stranger,  it 
had  a  mighty  big  pile  of  the  tallest  kind  of  land  layin'  around  waitin'  to  be  opened 
up  to  the  sunlight.  — Hammond,  Wild  Northern  Scenes,  p.  211. 

The  live  Sucker  from  Illinois  had  the  daring  to  say  that  our  Ai-kansaw  friend's 
stories  smelt  rather  tall.  —  Thorpe,  Big  Bear  of  Arkansas. 

2.   Finely ;  exceedingly  ;  highly  ;  very  much.     Western. 

I  will  walk  tall  into  varmint  and  Indian ;  it 's  a  way  I  've  got,  and  it  comes  as 
natural  as  grinning  to  a  hyena.  I  'm  a  regular  tornado,  tough  as  hickory,  and  long- 
winded  as  a  nor'-wester.  —  Thorpe's  Backwoods,  p.  131. 

I  seed  Jess  warn't  pleased ;  but  I  did  n't  estimate  him  very  tall,  so  I  kept  on  dan- 
cin'  with  Sally,  and  ended  by  kissin'  her  good  by,  and  making  liim  jealous  as  a  pet 
pinter.  —  RM,  Squatter  Life. 

Tamal,  or  Tamauli.  A  peculiar  Spanish-American  dish  made  up  of  a 
paste  of  crushed  or  ground  maize,  sometimes  with  minced  meat  added, 
when  it  is  wrapped  in  the  husks  of  maize  and  baked  on  the  coals. 

The  mountebanks  draw  a  crowd,  and  this  attracts  a  few  sellers  of  whiskey,  tortil- 
las, and  tamaules,  making  a  ruddy  pictm-esque  group.  —  Olmsted's  Texas. 

Tamarack.    See  Hackmatack. 


472  TAN  — TAR 

Tangle-Foot.     One  of  the  Western  figurative  tei-ms  for  whiskey. 

Tangle-Legs.     See  Hohble-Bush. 

Tapioca.  A  substance  much  used  in  the  United  States  for  puddings  and 
other  culinary  purposes.  It  is  extracted  from  the  manioc.  (Jatropha  ma- 
nihot),  a  shrub  indigenous  to  tropical  America,  and  now  cultivated  from 
Florida  to  Magellan.  It  is  said  that  an  acre  of  manioc  will  nourish  more 
persons  than  six  acres  of  wheat.  Its  roots  attain  the  size  of  the  thigh. 
Every  part  of  the  plant  is  filled  with  a  milky  juice,  which  is  a  very  vio- 
lent and  dangerous  poison,  producing  death  in  a  few  minutes,  when  swal- 
lowed ;  yet  human  ingenuity  has  converted  its  roots  into  an  article  of 
food.  This  is  done  by  grinding  them  in  wooden  miUs,  after  which  the 
paste  is  put  into  sacks,  and  exposed  to  the  action  of  a  powerful  press. 
The  poisonous  juice  is  thereby  extracted,  and  the  residue  is  the  substance 
known  as  cassava  or  mandioca,  a  nutritious  flom',  preferred  by  the  natives 
to  that  from  wheat.  When  kept  from  moisture,  this  flour  wUl  keep  good 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  The  tapioca  is  made  by  separating  from  the 
fibrous  part  of  the  roots  a  small  quantity  of  the  pulp,  after  the  juice  is 
extracted,  and  working  it  by  hand  till  a  thick  white  cream  appears  on  the 
surface.  This,  being  scraped  off"  and  washed  in  water,  gradually  subsides 
to  the  bottom.  After  the  water  is  poured  off,  the  remaining  moisture  is 
dissipated  by  a  slow  fire,  and,  the  substance  being  constantly  stirred,  grad- 
ually forms  into  grains  about  as  large  as  those  of  sago.  This  is  the  purest 
and  most  wholesome  part  of  the  manioc.  —  Eacyc.  Americana. 

To  Tap.  To  add  a  new  sole  or  heel  to  a  shoe.  Herefordshire,  England. 
—  Worcester. 

To  BE  ON  one's  Taps,  is  to  be  on  one's  feet,  literally  on  one's  soles ;  a 
metaphor  borrowed  from  the  shoemaker. 

Your  editor,  when  times  are  dull,  must  be  "on  his  taps,"  as  the  saying  is.  When 
the  mail  comes  through  and  brings  news  enough  to  make  things  look  lively,  why 
then  he  must  work,  and  cut,  and  paste,  as  though  the  world  depended  on  him.  — N. 
Y.  Tribune, 

Taknal.     a  New  England  corruption  of  eternal. 

Whatc'er  he  tries,  it  is  his  rule. 

If  once  he  fail  to  reach  the  "  gool," 

To  rate  himself  a  "  tarnal  fool, 

By  golly !  "  —  Yanlcee  Philosophy. 

Tarnation.  A  common  oath  both  in  Old  and  New  England.  It  is  a 
variation  of  Darnation. 

Poor  honest  John  !  't  is  plain  he  know'd 

But  liddle  of  lire's  range, 
Or  he  'd  a  know'd,  gals  oft,  at  fust, 

Have  ways  tarnation  strange.  — Essex  Dialect,  p.  11. 


TAR  — TEE  473 

Takye.     a  turn,  bend,  curve.  'j^^  A^  T^I^t^/  /^.^k.  l^ 

I  can't  say  much  for  your  axe,  stranger,  for  this  helve  has  no  tarve  to  it;  but, 
such  as  it  is,  down  must  come  this  elm.  —  Cooper,  Oak  Openings. 

Taunton  Turkeys.     The  common  herring,  of  which  large  quantities  are 
taken  near  Taunton,  Massachusetts.     Comp.  Albany  Beef. 
Our  fisheries  o'er  the  world  are  famed, 

The  mackerel,  shad,  and  cod ! 
And  Taunton  turkeys  are  so  thick. 
We  sell  them  by  the  rod  ! 

Allin,  Yankee  Ballad. 

Tautaug,  or  Tautog.  (Tautoga  americana.)  The  name  of  the  Black- 
fish  caught  in  the  waters  of  Rhode  Island.  It  is  an  Abenaki  Indian 
word,  and  may  be  found  in  Roger  Williams's  Key  to  the  Indian  Lan- 
guage, Avhere,  however,  he  calls  it  the  Sheepshead,  which  is  an  entirely 
different  fish.  In  New  York  it  is  called  Black  Fish,  from  the  color  of  its 
back  and  sides. 

For  blue  fish  merely,  nothing  can  be  as  good  as  Edgartown.  For  blue  fish,  bass, 
and  iautog  altogether,  Seconnet  is  better.  —  Dan'l  Webster,  Private  Cor.,  Vol.  I. 
p.  339. 

Tavern.  A  house  licensed  to  sell  liquors  in  small  quantities  to  be  drank 
on  the  spot.  In  some  of  the  United  States  tavern  is  synonymous  with 
"  inn  "  or  "  hotel,"  and  denotes  a  house  for  the  entertainment  of  travellers, 
as  well  as  for  the  sale  of  liquors,  licensed  for  that  purpose.  —  Webster. 

Tavern-Keeper.  One  who  is  hcensed  to  sell  liquors  to  be  drank  in  his 
own  house,  and  to  entertain  travellers  and  lodgers,  together  Avith  the 
horses  and  oxen  composing  their  teams.  —  Webster. 

To  Tax.  To  chai-ge  ;  as,  "  What  will  you  tax  me  a  yard  for  this  cloth  ?  " 
i.  e.  what  will  you  charge  for  it,  or,  what  is  the  price  of  it  ?  New  Eng- 
land. 

Job  Clark  was  a  wonderful  pious  pedlar,  and  would  n't  take  advantage  of  a  min- 
ister of  the  Gospel.  He,  therefore,  in  ti'adin'  with  the  clergy,  only  taxed  his  goods 
at  half  price.  — Widoio  Bedott  Papers,  p.  218. 

Teasi.  He  's  a  whole  team,  or  a  full  team,  are  slang  expressions  of  admi- 
ration, meaning  he  is  a  person  of  great  abilities  and  energy. 

Tear-coat,  or  Tear-blanket  (often  pron.  Tar-coat  in  the  West).  The 
Arabia  Spi7iosa,  or  Angelia  tree,  so  called  because  its  prickles  tear  the 
coats .  of  hunters,  or  the  blankets  of  the  Indians,  in  passing. 

Tea-Squall.     A  not  over  respectful  name  for  a  tea-party. 

Teeter.     See  Peetweet. 

40* 


474  TEE  — TEL 

To  Teeter.     1.    To  see-saw  on  a  balanced  plank,  as  children  for  amuse- 
ment. —  Worcester.     The  English  write  and  pronounce  titter. 

2.  To  bob  the  body  up  and  down,  as  in  saluting  a  person  or  takino-  a 
seat. 

With  a  few  fashionable  phrases  in  your  noddles,  a  flice  barbarously  brutalized  — 
a  ridiculously  genteel  apparel,  and  a  most  audacious  assurance  —  you  tip  and  teeter 
about,  thinking  that  you  excite  the  admiration  of  all,  but  of  the  ladies  in  particular. 
Doiv's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  184. 

Teeter-Tawter.     The  game  of  see-saw.     In  England  pronounced  iitter- 
totter.     Children,  while  playing  it,  repeat  the  distich : 

Teeter-tawter, 
Milk  and  water. 

Teeth-ache.     An  attempted  improvement  in  the  way  of  accuracy  on  the 
word  tooth-ache. 

Teetotallt.     Entirely;  totally. 

The  meetin'  houses  on  one  side  of  the  water,  how  teetotally  different  they  be  !  — 
Sam  Slick  in  England,  eh.  12. 

Stranger,  I  'm  powerful  sorry,  but  we're  teetotally  out;  he  took  every  bit  of  food 
with  him.  —  Carlton's  New  Purchase,  Vol.  II.  p.  24.5. 

Things  were  n't  going  on  right ;  so  I  pretty  nearly  gave  myself  up  teetotally  to 
the  good  of  the  republic.  — J.  C.  Neal,  Peter  Brush. 

I  would  n't  have  you  think  that  I  am  teetotally  opposed  to  dancing  in  every  shape ; 
for  the  reason  that  I  used  to  heel  and  toe  it  a  trifle  myself,  when  young.  —  Dow's 
Sermons,  Vol.  I. 

Teetotaciously.     a  strange  Western  term  meaning  a  little  more  than 
teetotally,  if  such  a  thing  be  possible. 

He  was,  by !    I  won't  swear,  'cause  it 's  wicked ;  but  if  he  was  n't,  I  hope  to 

be  teetotaciously  chawed  up  ! —  Western  Adventures,  N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Telegram.     A  despatch  by  the  Electro-Telegraph. 

We  claim  this  as  an  American  Avord,  it  having  been  first  suggested  and 
its  adoption  urged  as  early  as  the  year  1852.  To  the  Albany  Evening 
Journal  is  entitled  the  credit  of  the  first  suggestion  of  the  term,  that  paper 
having,  on  the  6th  April,  1852,  published  the  following,  which  emanated 
from  Mr.  E.  Peshine  Smith,  of  Rochester. 

A  New  Word. — A  friend  desires  us  to  give  notice  that  he  will  ask  leave,  at 
some  convenient  time,  to  introduce  a  new  word  into  the  vocabulary.  The  object  of 
!tliis  proposed  innovation,  is  to  avoid  the  necessity,  now  existing,  of  using  two  words, 
for  which  there  is  very  frequent  occasion,  when  one  will  answer.  It  is  Telegram, 
instead  of  Telegraphic  Despatch,  or  Telegraphic  Communication.  The  word  is  formed 
according  to  the  strictest  laws  of  the  language  from  which  its  root  comes.  Telegraph 
means  to  write  from  a  distance ;  Telegram,  the  writing  itself,  executed  from  a  dis- 
lance.     Monogram,  Logogram,  etc.,  are  words  formed  upon  the  same  analogy  and 


TEL  — TEN  475 

in  good  acceptation.  Our  friend,  moreover,  says  that  the  House  Line,  if  disposed 
to  be  precise,  should  call  their  communications  Teletypes,  as  they  are  printed,  not 
written.  In  a  generous  spirit  of  toleration,  he  proposes  no  action  upon  the  last  sug- 
gestion ;  but  as  to  everybody  else,  except  the  employci-s  and  customers  of  the  House 
Line,  he  would  have  them  "  held  and  firmly  bound  "  to  speak,  write,  print,  and  tele- 
graph, Telegram,  instead  of  any  two  words  signifying  the  same  thing,  under  pen- 
alty of  being  considered  verbose  and  tedious. 

Immediately  after  this,  probably  from  the  suggestion  in  the  Albany 
Journal,  there  appeared  in  the  "  Daily  American  Telegraph,"  published 
in  Washington,  on  the  27th  of  April,  1852  (a  copy  of  which  Ave  have 
seen),  the  following  from  the  Editor,  Mr.  Thomas  Connolly. 

Telegram.  —  Telegraph,  means  to  write  fi'om  a  distance  :  Telegram,  the  WTiting  it- 
self executed  from  a  distance.  Monogram,  Logogram,  etc.,  are  words  formed  upon 
the  same  analogy,  and  in  good  acceptation.  Hence,  Telegram  is  the  appropriate 
heading  of  a  Telegraphic  despatch.     Well,  we  'II  go  it.    Look  to  our  heading. 

The  Telegraph  despatches  in  the  same  paper  were  accordingly  given 
under  the  heading  of  Telegrams,  and  the  heading  continued  for  some 
time;   but  the  suggestion  not  being  followed  by  the  press,  it  was  dropped. 

In  discussing  the  origin  of  the  term  in  England,  the  London  "  Notes 
and  Queries"  of  Nov.  21,  1857,  asserts  that  it  was  used  both  in  Liver- 
pool and  London  four  years  before.  But  even  admitting  the  correctness 
of  this  assertion  —  for  it  is  only  an  assertion — the  date,  it  will  be  perceived, 
falls  a  year  and  a  half  short  of  the  earlier  American  use  of  it. 

Tell.  A  saying ;  generally,  however,  a  good  one,  or  a  complimentary 
one.  A  young  lady  will  say  to  another,  "  I  've  a  tell  for  you,"  i.  e.  I've  a 
compliment  for  you,  or  I  have  heard  some  one  speak  highly  of  you.  Not 
elegant. 

In  his  dealings  with  the  other  sex  he  is  a  little  twistical,  according  to  their  tell.  — 
Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  England. 

To  Tell.  To  tell  one  good-bye,  is  the  Southern  phrase  for  to  bid  one  good- 
bye.  "  Before  I  leave  town,  I  will  come  and  tell  you  good-bye." 

To  Tell  on.     To  tell  of;  to  tell  about.     Vulgar. 

"  Well,"  says  the  Gineral,  "  I  am  glad  I  did  n't  understand  him,  for  now  it  stumps 
me  considerable.  Major,  who  was  that  ?  "  "  Why,"  says  I,  "  Gineral,  he  is  the  son 
of  a  man  I  've  heard  you  tell  on  a  thousand  times."  —  Maj.  Downing's  Letters,  29. 

To  Tend,  for  to  attend. 

Most  of  the  passengers  in  the  cars  werfe  preachers  what  had  been  up  to  Augusta 
to  tend  the  convention.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Travels. 

Tendsome.  Requiring  much  attendance;  as,  "a  tendsome  child." —  Web- 
ster.   This  word  is  used  in  Connecticut. 


476  TEN  — THE 

Tenement  House.  In  the  city  of  New  York  a  house  let  to,  or  occupied 
by,  a  number  of  tenants. 

Ten-Pins.  Laws  having  been  passed  against  the  establishment  of  "  nine- 
pin  alleys,"  the  name  and  the  number  of  pins  were  at  once  changed. 

Terawchy.  This  word  is  evidently  of  Dutch  origin,  and  would  seem  to 
be  te  ratje,  the  little  rat,  an  equivalent  for  the  term  "creep-mouse,"  which 
is  used  in  a  like  manner.  It  is  a  very  common  word  in  the  nursery,  and 
is  always  accompanied  by  a  peculiar  motion  of  the  fingers,  with  the  palm 
of  the  hand  presented  to  the  child.  It  is  as  well  known  among  the  old 
English  families  of  New  York  as  among  those  of  Dutch  descent. 

Terrapin.  {Palustn's.)  A  name  given  to  a  species  of  tide-water  tortoise, 
common  in  the  Atlantic  States  south  of  New  York,  and  considered  an 
article  of  luxury.  It  is  found  exclusively  in  the  salt  water,  and  always 
in  the  neighborhood  of  marshes. 

Territory.  A  large  district  of  country  belonging  to  the  United  States, 
though  not  forming  a  part  of  any  individual  State,  and  under  a  temporary 
government.  —  Worcester. 

Tesquite.  An  alkaline  efflorescence  of  considerable  value  which  exudes 
from  the  earth  around  many  of  the  lakes,  ponds,  and  marshy  grounds  in 
New  Mexico,  California,  and  Arizona. 

Test-Paper.  a  paper  or  instrument  shown  to  a  jury  as  evidence.  A 
term  used  in  the  Pennsylvania  Courts.  Called  also  a  "  standard  paper." 
— BurrilVs  Laio  Die. 

Texan  Hare.     See  Jackass  Rahhit. 

Thanksgiving  Day.  A  day  set  apart  once  a  year  (usually  in  the  month 
of  November),  by  the  Governors  of  States,  for  a  general  thanksgiving  to 
God  for  blessings  enjoyed.  The  custom  originated  among  the  Puritans 
of  New  England,  where,  as  a  season  of  social  festivities  and  family  reun- 
ions, it  has  almost  wholly  usurped  the  place  of  Chi-istmas. 

The.  American  speakers  and  writers  very  commonly  use  the  definite 
article  in  the  French  manner,  and  contrary  to  the  genius  of  the  English 
language,  before  the  names  of  diseases. 

There  would  be  npthing  questionable  in  the  report  tliat  De  Soto  died  of  typhus 
fever,  or  some  similar  malady,  if  another  account  did  not  ascribe  his  death  to  the 
dysentery.  —  Willmer's  Life  of  De  Soto,  p.  505. 

There,  (pron.  thar.)  On  the  spot ;  on  hand ;  at  home.  Western.  The 
author  of  "A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,"  in  speaking  of  this  use  of  thg  word, 


THI  — THE  477 

says,  "  A  man  who  accepts  an  invitation  to  a  frolic  or  a  fight,  a  wedding 
or  a  funeral,  probably  answers,  I  'm  thar.  A  person  wishing  to  imply  that 
he  is  perfectly  at  home  in  any  thing,  says  he  is  thar ;  a  good  hunter  or 
fisher  is  also  thar." 

Thimble-Berry.  (Eubus  occtdentalis.)  The  Black  Raspberry,  so  called 
by  many  from  the  naked  receptacle,  which  has  the  shape  of  a  thimble. 

Thijible-Weed.  (RudbecHa.)  A  tall  plant  six  or  eight  feet  high,  re- 
sembling the  sunflower.  It  is  one  of  the  herbs  prepared  by  the  Shakers, 
and  is  used  in  medicine  for  its  diuretic  and  tonic  pi'operties.  Like  the 
Thimble-berry,  its  receptacle  resembles  a  thimble. 

This  here,  and  That  there.  These  vulgar  pleonasms  are  often  heard 
in  this  country  as  well  as  in  England. 

This  yere,  is  the  common  pronunciation  in  the  South. 

Thompsonian  Doctor.  A  physician  who  follows  the  Thompsonian  prac- 
tice ;  also  called  Steam  Doctor. 

Thompsonian  Practice.  A  peculiar  treatment  of  diseases,  so  named 
from  its  inventor.  The  medicines  are  labelled  from  No.  1  to  No.  10,  and 
are  compounds  of  Cayenne  pepper,  lobelia,  etc. 

Thorny  Locust.     See  Honey  Locust.  • 

Thoroughfare.  A  low  gap  between  mountains;  as,  ^^Thoroughfare  gap" 
in  Fauquier  county,  Virginia.     "  Thoroughfare  mountain."     Southern. 

Thoroughtvort.     Another  name  for  Boneset,  which  see. 

Thousand  of  Brick.  Like  a  thousand  of  hrich,  is  a  queer  simile  very 
often  heard.  It  means,  of  course,  very  heavily,  like  brick  dumped  out  of 
a  cart ;  and  then  vigorously,  vehemently. 

A  huge  negro  woman  tlu'cw  herself  convulsively  from  her  feet,  and  fell  like  a  thou- 
sand of  brick  across  a  diminutive  old  man.  —  Simon  Suggs. 

The  new  "  Yankee  Doodle,"  by  George  P.  Mon-is,  created  an  immense  noise. 
Nobody  could  sit  still ;  hands  and  feet  came  into  the  chorus  of  their  own  accord,  and 
the  house  was  down  "  like  a  thousand  of  brick."  —  New  York  Paper. 

I  see  he  was  gcttin  riled  some,  and  I  thought  he  'd  bile  over.  You  see  that 's  the 
way  with  us  Western  folks.  If  folks  is  sassy,  we  walk  right  into  'cm  like  a  thousand 
of  brick.  —  Mrs.  Clavers,  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  109. 

Sweet  is  the  melting  fall  of  music,  but  not  such  music  as  nightly  comes  down  up- 
on us  like  a  thousand  of  brides  from  the  balconies  of  museums,  nor  such  as  we  some- 
times hear  a*  the  opera. — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  201. 

Through,  is  used  in  the  West  for  swathe,  or  the  cut  of  the  cradle  through 
grass  or  grain.  Like  "  swathe,"  it  is  also  used  figuratively ;  as,  "  What  a 
through  he  cut ! "  i.  e.  what  a  swell ! 


478  THR  — TIC 

Through  the  Mill.  A  person  is  said  to  have  been  through  the  mill 
when  he  has  had  experience  in  a  particular  thing. 

To  Throw  in.     To  contribute;  as,  "I'll  throio  in  for  a  pony  race." 

Thundering.  Very  ;  exceedingly.  A  vulgar  colloquialism,  used  both  in 
England  and  in  this  country. 

Lord  Hervey,  in  his  Memoirs  of  the  Court  of  George  II.,  mentions 
Queen  Caroline's  indignation  at  the  infliction  of  a  "  thundering  long  ser- 
mon." 

I  was  told  that  Faneuil  Hall  was  called  the  "  cradle  of  liberty."  I  reckon  old 
King  George  thought  they  were  thundering  fine  children  that  were  roclied  in  it,  and 
a  good  many  of  them.  —  Crockett,  Tour  Down  East,  p.  61. 

If  a  chap  only  comes  from  the  North,  and  has  got  a  crop  of  hair  and  wliiskers,  and 
a  coat  different  from  everybody  else,  and  a  thunderin'  great  big  gold  chain  about  his 
neck,  he's  tlie  poplerest  man  among  the  ladies.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship,  p.  82. 

Tick  Nation.  A  name  given  to  regions  in  Avhich  ticks  abound,  and,  as 
the  grasses  and  sandy  soil  infected  by  them  are  peculiar  to  the  poorer 
parts  of  the  country,  it  is  sometimes  used  as  a  term  of  reproach. 

Ticket.  Politically  it  means  a  printed  list  of  candidates  to  be  used  at  an 
election.  According  to  circumstances  a  man  is  said  to  vote  the  straight 
ticket,  i.  e.  the  ticket  containing  the  "  regular  nomination  "  of  his  party 
without  change ;  a  scratch  ticket,  a  ticket  from  which  the  names  of  one 
or  more  of  the  candidates  are  erased ;  a  split  ticket,  a  ticket  representing 
different  divisions  of  his  party ;  or  a  mixed  ticket,  a  ticket  in  which  the 
nominations  of  different  parties  are  blended  into  one. 

TiCKE^T-SwiNDLER.  Several  complaints  have  been  made  at  the  Mayor's 
office,  of  a  new  system  of  swindling  persons  from  the  interior,  who  are  re- 
turning to  Germany,  and  other  persons  of  Europe.  It  is  the  custom  with  the 
runners  of  packet-lines  to  have  their  agents  in  the  country  inclose  the  ticket 
in  an  envelope,  which  the  passenger  is  directed  to  deliver  to  the  owners 
of  the  lines  at  their  office  in  New  York.  In  many  cases  the  ticket  sivin- 
dlers  meet  the  passengers  at  the  railroad  depots,  and,  learning  their  busi- 
ness, take  them  to  their  offices,  stating  that  it  is  the  regular  office  of  the 
steamship  or  packet  line,  and  after  inspecting  the  tickets  pronounce  them 
"all  right,"  but  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  deposit  $10  for  "medical 
fees"  on  the  passage.  The  passenger  demurs,  perhaps;  but  at  last,  just 
before  the  steamer  or  ship  leaves,  pays  the  amount,  after  Joeing  told  he 
cannot  proceed  on  his  journey  without  paying  the  fees.  This  system  has 
been  practised  quite  extensively  Avithin  a  few  weeks  back.  — N.  Y.  Tri- 
hune,  Nov.  13,  1858. 


TIC  — TIG  479 

Tickler.     1.  A  common  name  among  merchants  and  bankers  for  a  book 
in  -which  a  register  of  notes  or  debts  is  kept  for  reference. 
2.  A  small  pocket  flask  in  which  to  carry  liquor. 

Then  ho  took  out  a  tickler  of  whiskey ;  and  arter  he  'd  took  three  or  four  swallows 
out'u  it,  says  he,  "  Oblige  me  by  taking  a  horn."  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  33. 

Tie.  1.  The  state  produced  by  an  equal  number  of  votes  on  two  opposite 
sides.  —  Worcester.  I  have  not  found  this  very  common  use  of  the  word 
in  any  other  dictionary  or  glossary,  English  or  American. 

2.  A  pair  that  are  alike ;  a  match.  " Them  two  hogs  is  a  tie"  "West- 
em. 

To  Tie  to.  In  "Western  phraseology,  a  man  who  "  will  do  to  tie  to"  is  one 
who  can  be  relied  upon,  an  honest  man. 

To  Tie  up.  To  make  fast,  as  a  vessel  or  steamboat.  An  expression  pe- 
culiar to  the  "West. 

"  It 's  foggy  to-night,"  said  the  captain,  "  and  you  'd  best  run  the  boat  till  nine, 
and  then  tie  up." 

"  Tie  her  up  !  "  says  Jim.  "I  tie  her  up  in  a  horn !  Do  you  reckon  I  can't  run 
her  in  such  a  fog  as  this  1  No,  sir !  I  '11  keep  her  a  bilin'  till  my  watch  is  up,  and 
then  I  '11  tie  up,  as  you  're  afeard  to  run.  —  Maj.  Bunkum  N.  Y.  Sp.  Times. 

Tiger.  In  1822,  the  Boston  Light  Infantry,  under  Captain  Mackintosh 
and  Lieut.  Robert  C.  "Winthrop,  visited  Salem  and  encamped  in  "Wash- 
ington square  ;  and  during  their  stay  a  few  of  the  members  indulged  in 
sports  incidental  to  camp  duty,  when  some  visitor  exclaimed  to  one  who 
was  a  little  rough,  "  Oh,  you  Tiger ! "  It  became  a  catch  word,  and  as 
a  term  of  playful  reproach,  "  You  're  a  Tiger,"  was  adopted  as  one  of  the 
peculiar  phrases  of  the  corps.  On  the  route  to  Boston  some  musical 
genius  sung  an  impromptu  line,  "  Oh,  you  Tigers,  do  n't  you  know,"  to  the 
air  of  "  Rob  Roy  McGregor  oh !"  Of  course  the  appellation  soon  induced 
the  Tigers  by  name  to  imitate  the  actions  of  the  Tiger,  and  the  "  growl " 
was  introduced,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  three  cheers  "  a  tiger  "  was  in- 
variably called  for. 

In  1826,  the  Infantry  visited  New  York,  being  the  first  volunteer  corps 
to  make  a  trip  from  this  city  to  another  State  ;  and  while  there  the  Tigers 
at  a  public  festival  awoke  the  echoes  and  astonished  the  Grothamites  by 
giving  the  genuine  howl.  It  pleased  the  fancy  of  the  hosts,  and  gradually 
it  became  adopted  on  all  festive  and  joyous  occasions,  and  now  "  three 
cheers  and  a  tiger  "  are  the  inseparable  demonstrations  of  approbation  in 
that  city.  —  Boston  Evening  Gazette. 

Tiger-Cat.     See  Ocelot. 

Tight.    1.  Close ;  parsimonious ;  saving ;  as,  "  a  man  tight  in  his  dealings." 


480  TIG  — TIN 

Close  ;  hard  ;  as,  "  a  tight  bargain."  —  Webster.  To  these  American  uses 
of  the  word  is  to  be  added  another  similar  to  the  last.  "When  money  is 
difficult  to  be  procured  by  discounting,  etc.,  business  men  say,  "  the  money 
mai-ket  is  tight"  or  " money  is  tight."  In  this  sense  it  is  the  opposite  of 
easy,  which  see. 

The  Deacon  was  as  tight  as  the  skin  on  his  baciv  ;  begrudged  folks  tlieir  victuals 
when  they  came  to  liis  house. —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  30. 

The  money  market,  except  on  the  best  stocks,  is  getting  tight,  and  there  is  a  gen- 
eral calling  in  of  loans  upon  the  "  fancies."  — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

2.  Tipsy ;  drunk.  Used  mostly  at  the  South.  The  question  has 
been  asked,  "  Can  a  man  be  considered  a  loose  character  who  comes 
home  tight  every  night  ?  " 

Tight  Match.  A  close  or  even  match,  as  of  two  persons  wrestling  or 
running  together. 

Tight  Place.  To  be  in  a  tight  place  is  to  be  in  straits,  to  be  short  of 
money. 

Tight  Scrouging,  i.  e.  hard  squeezing.  Said  of  any  thing  difficult  to  ac- 
complish. —  Sherwood's  Georgia. 

Tight  Squeeze.    A  difficulty. 

It's  a  tight  squeeze  sometimes  to  scrouge  between  a  lie  and  the  truth  in  business.  — 
Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  217. 

Tilt.     See  Lawyer,  No.  1. 

Tilt-up,  or  Tip-up.  The  popular  name  of  the  Sand-Piper.  See  Peet- 
Weet. 

Timber.  Throughout  the  "West  and  South  this  term  is  applied  to  wood- 
land, A  man  going  into  the  woods  will  tell  you  he  is  going  into  the  tim- 
ber. 

After  proceeding  half  a  mile  into  the  timber,  we  were  suddenly  brought  to  a  stand 
by  the  dense  undergrowth.  —  A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas. 

Time.     "  What  time  are  you  ?  "  means,  "What  o'clock  is  it  ? 

Timothy.  (Phleum  pratense.)  The  common  name  for  the  Herd's  Grass  ; 
said  to  be  derived  from  Timothy  Hanson,  one  of  its  early  propagators.  — 
Bigelow's  Flora  Bostoniensis. 

TiNAJA.  (Span.  pron.  tindha.)  The  word  signifies,  primarily,  an  unglazed 
earthen  water-jar ;  and  is  applied  on  the  Mexican  frontier  to  water-holes 
or  cavities  in  rocks  on  the  sides  of  mountains,  ■where  water  accumulates. 
These  are  filled  during  the  rainy  season,  and  are  the  chief  or  only  de- 
pendence of  travellers  for  water  at  other  times. 


TIN  — TOA  481 

Permanent  water  is  found  under  a  cleft  of  igneous  rocks,  and  docs  not  pi'operly 
deserve  the  name  of  a  spring,  but  is  rather  a  tinaja  supplied  by  water  trickling 
through  the  rocks  from  water-holes  above.  —  Schott's  Obs.  on  the  Country  along  the 
Mexican  Boundary,  p.  69. 

Eight  of  these  tinajas,  one  above  the  other,  the  highest  too  diflBcult  to  reach  [are 
found  here] ;  as  the  water  is  used  from  the  lower  ones,  you  ascend  to  the  next 
higher,  passing  it  down  by  means  of  buckets.  —  Lieut.  Michler's  Report,  Mexican 
Boundary,  p.  114. 

Tinker.    A  small  mackerel.    New  England. 

Tip-up.     See  Peet-weet. 

TiPSixAH.  The  wild  prairie  turnip,  used  as  food  by  the  North-western 
Indians. 

Tithing-Man.  In  New  England  a  parish  officer  appointed  to  preserve 
order  at  public  worship,  and  enforce  the  proper  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath. —  Worcester. 

To  Titivate.  To  dress  up.  "  To  titivate  oneself,"  is  to  make  one's  toilet. 
Colloquial  in  England  and  the  United  States. 

Well,  I  '11  arrive  in  time  for  dinner ;  I  '11  titivate  myself  up,  and  down  to  drawin'- 
room.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  23. 

The  girls  are  all  so  titivated  off  with  false  beauty,  that  a  fellow  loses  his  heart  be- 
fore he  knows  it. — Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  151. 

Titter.  An  eruption  on  the  skin.  This  is  merely  another  pronunciation 
of  tetter.  It  is  used  in  New  England,  and,  according  to  Forby,  is  pro- 
vincial in  England. 

To.  1.  For  at  or  in.  An  exceedingly  common  vulgarism  in  the  Northern 
States.  We  often  hear  such  barbarous  expressions  as,  "  He  lives  to 
York ; "  "  He  wan't  to  hum  "  (i.  e.  at  home)  ;  while  the  opposite  mistake 
of  in  for  into  is  hardly  less  frequent 

I  have  forgot  what  little  I  learnt  to  night-school ;  and,  in  fact,  I  never  was  any 
great  shakes  at  it.  —  Sam  Slick. 

When  is  charity  like  a  top  ?     When  it  begins  to  hum.  — Bait.  San. 
The  boiler,  instead  of  going  upward,  moved  in  a  horizontal  line,  passed  through 
the  main  building  directly  through  the  weaver's  room,  without  injuring  the  workmen 
there,  although  men  were  to  woi-k  on  each  side  of  where  the  boiler  passed.  —  Rome 
Sentinel,  Sept.  185S. 

2.    To,  as  the  sign  of  the  infinitive,  is  sometimes  improperly  omitted. 
We  found  the  medical  student  at  his  lodgings,  sitting  at  a  table  in  the  middle  of  a 
very  disorderly  apartment,  making  beUeve  [to]  eat  a  late  breakfast.  —  Putnam's 
Magazine,  May,  1854. 

Toad-Fish.  (Batrachus  variegatus.)  This  repulsive  creature,  and  fish- 
erman's pest,  is  called  also  "Oyster  Fish,"  on  the  New  Jersey  coast, 

41 


482  T  O  B  —  T  0  M 

from  its  frequenting  the  oyster  beds,  and  "  Grubley  "  on  the  coast  of  New 
England. 

Tobacco.  (W.  Ind.  tahago  or  tahacco,  a  cigar  or  pipe.)  An  American 
plant,  the  dried  leaves  of  which  are  used  for  smoking,  chewing,  and  for 
making  snuff.  The  more  common  varieties  cultivated  in  the  United 
States  are  Hudson,  Frederick,  Thickjoint,  Shoestring,  Thickset,  Sweet- 
scented,  Orinoko,  etc.  Among  the  host  of  names  given  to  it  according  to 
the  various  modes  in  which  it  is  prepared  for  chewing  are.  Pig-tail,  Ladies' 
Twist,  Cavendish,  Honey-dew,  Negro-head  (pron.  Nigger-head),  Long 
Cut,  Short  Cut,  Bull's  Eye,  Plug,  Fig,  Oronoko  Leaf,  Nail-rod  or  32's, 
Roll,  Fine  Spun,  Pound,  etc.  etc.  There  is,  besides,  smoking  tobacco, 
put  up  in  papers  of  various  kinds,  as  Kanaster,  Kite-foot,  Cut-stems,  etc. 
In  the  form  of  snuff  there  are  also  many  terms  for  it,  as  Maccoboy, 
Rappee  (American  and  foreign,  named  after  the  places  it  is  manufactured 
in),  American  gentleman,  Demigros,  Pure  Virginia,  Copenhagen,  Nachi- 
toches,  Bourbon,  St.  Domingo,  Scotch,  High  Toast,  Irish  Blackguard, 
Irish  High  Toast,  etc.  etc. 

ToBACCO-Box.  A  small  fresh-water  fish,  called  also  Sunfish  and  Pumpkin 
Seed. 

TOBACCO-RooT.     See  Kooyah  Root. 

To  Toe  the  Mark.  A  phrase  borrowed  from  the  prize-ring,  and  mean- 
ing, to  come  up  to  one's  obligations. 

To  Tole.  To  draw  or  cause  to  follow,  by  presenting  something  pleasing 
or  desirable  to  view  ;  to  allure  by  some  bait.  —  Webster. 

We  apply  this  old  English  word  only  to  the  alluring  of  animals.  Thus 
in  New  England  the  farmers  tole  sheep,  and  cause  them  to  follow,  by 
holding  to  them  a  measure  of  corn  or  some  fodder.  In  the  Middle  States 
wild  ducks  are  toled  within  gun-shot,  by  causing  a  little  dog  to  run  up 
and  down  behind  a  brushwood  fence,  which  excites  their  curiosity. 

Tomahawk.  (Algonkin  Ind.,  tomehagen.)  An  Indian  hatchet,  or  axe. 
It  was  and  is  the  custom  of  the  Indians  to  go  through  the  ceremony  of 
burying  the  tomahawk,  when  they  made  peace ;  when  they  went  to  war, 
they  dug  it  up  again.  Hence  the  phrases  "  to  bury  the  tomahawk"  and 
" to  dig  up  the  tomahawk"  are  sometimes  used  by  political  speakers  and 
writers  with  reference  to  the  healing  up  of  past  disputes  or  the  breaking 
out  of  new  ones.     See  Hatchet. 

Fierce  the  fight  and  short, 
As  is  the  whirlwind.     Soon  the  conquerors 
And  conquered  vanished,  and  the  dead  remain 
Mangled  by  tomahawks.  — Bryant,  The  Fountain. 


TOM— TOP  483 

ToMCOD.  (Morrhua  prui'nosa.)  A  small  fish  common  to  our  coast,  but 
which  becomes  very  abundant  after  the  first  frost ;  hence  the  name  of 
Frost  Fish,  by  which  it  is  also  known.  —  Storer,  Fishes  of  Massachusetts. 
Dr.  J.  V.  C.  Smith  believes  the  tomcod  to  be  the  same  as  a  fish  known 
in  Europe  as  the  tacaud  of  Cuvier,  and  that  tomcod  is  a  corruption  of  the 
Indian  name,  tacaud,  i.  e.  plenty-fish,  as  this  little  fish  was  well  known  to 
our  aborigines. 

The  Hull  merchant  came  under  the  frigate's  stem,  and  volunteered  to  go  and 
catch  some  tomcod.  —  Lieut.  Wise,  Scampavias,  p.  19. 

The  face  of  the  mermaid  was  regular  human,  and  it  looked  rather  tawney  and 
flabby  like  a  biled  nigger,  with  fleshy  eyes,  and  a  mouth  like  a  huge  tomcod.  —  Story 
of  the  Mermaid. 

Tom-Dog.  Male  dogs,  as  well  as  cats,  take  the  prefix  "  tom,"  m  some 
parts  of  the  "West.     "  Them  tom-dogs  howls  awful  to-night." 

Tombs.  A  name  commonly  given  to  the  New  York  city  prison,  in  allusion 
to  its  heavy  Egyptian  style  of  architecture. 

Tombs  Laavtek.  A  lawyer  whose  clients  are  the  inmates  of  the  New 
York  city  prison.     A  contemptuous  term.     See  Shyster. 

Tongs.  A  name  for  pantaloons  and  roundabouts,  formerly  in  use  in  New 
England. 

Children  were  playing  on  the  green,  the  boys  dressed  in  tongs;  some  in  skirt- 
coats,  etc.  — Margaret,  p.  34. 

Toothache  Bush.  {Xanthoxylum fraxineum.)  Prickly  Ash;  so  called 
from  its  pungent  properties,  made  sensible  when  applied  to  an  aching 
tooth. 

Toothache  Grass.  (Monocera  aromattca.)  A  singular  kind  of  grass 
which  grows  in  Florida,  with  a  naked  stalk  four  feet  high.  It  affects  the 
breath  and  milk  of  cows,  which  eat  it  when  young  and  tender.  The  root 
affects  the  salivary  glands.  —  Williams's  Florida. 

ToOTixG-TuB.    A  puritanical  term  for  a  church-organ. 

I  've  heard  they  're  subscribing  around  for  an  organ !  Yes,  an  organ  !  What  on 
earth  will  they  do  next  ?  That  ever  I  should  live  to  see  a  Popish  tootin'-tub  stuck 
up  in  our  gallery  !  —  Brook,  Eastford,  p.  22. 

Top  Notch.    The  highest  point. 

To-day  the  editor  of  the  Union  is  cheered  to  the  very  top  notch  of  joyous  exultation 
by  a  speech  from  some  Democratic  orator  or  a  paragraph  from  some  Democratic 
editor ;  to-morrow  he  is  horrified  by  the  atrocious  sentiment  of  some  rantipole  Barn- 
burner.—iV^.  Y.  Com.  Adv.,  Oct.  16,  1848, 


484  T  O  R  —  T  O  T 

Tore.  The  place  where  one  stands  to  shoot  marbles  from.  Used  by  the 
boys  of  New  Yoi-k. 

Tortilla.  (Spanish.)  The  well-known  large,  round,  thin  cake  prepared 
from  a  paste  made  of  the  soaked  grains  of  maize,  having  the  hulls  rubbed 
off  before  grinding  the  mass,  and  then  baked  on  an  earthen  griddle. 

The  corn  for  the  tortillas  is  boiled,  with  a  little  lime  in  the  water,  until  the  outer 
husk  or  shell  is  peeled  off,  when  it  is  ground  upon  an  oblong  stone  called  a  "  metate," 
a  domestic  utensil  handed  down  from  the  aboriginal  inhabitants.  The  meal  is  then 
properly  mixed  and  seasoned,  and  cooked  upon  small  sheets  of  ii'on  and  copper. 
They  are  baked  very  thin,  and  always  served  up  hot.  —  Davis,  El  Gringo,  p.  341. 

Hearing  a  continual  slap,  slap,  slap,  I  looked  round  and  saw  a  woman  kneeling 
upon  the  ground,  rubbing  the  metate,  while  a  pretty  girl  was  slapping  a  tortilla  be- 
tween her  hands.  —  Olmsted's  Texas. 

A  triangular  piece  of  tortilla  is  converted  into  a  spoon,  and  soup  is  even  eaten  in 
this  way.  Spoons  are  seldom  met  with  even  in  the  houses  of  the  rich,  the  use  of 
the  tortilla  being  universal.  — Ruxton's  Adv.  in  Mexico,  p.  145. 

Tory.  During  the  war  of  the  Revolution  this  term  was  applied  to  the 
royalists.  Some  years  ago,  when  the  term  "  Whig  "  was  adopted  by  one 
of  our  political  parties,  that  of  Tory  was  given  to  the  Democratic  jiarty. 
It  is  not  now  applied  to  any  party. 

It  was  said  that  the  tories  were  arming  and  collecting  in  the  Highlands,  under  the 
direction  of  distinguished  officers,  to  aid  the  conspiracies  formed  by  Gov.  Tryon 
and  his  adherents.  — Irving,  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  371. 

Tote.  The  whole  ;  all.  "  The  whole  tote"  a  common  pleonasm.  Pro- 
vincial in  England  and  in  New  England. 

To  Tote.  To  carry.  A  queer  word,  much  used  in  the  Southern  States. 
It  has  been,  absurdly  enough,  derived  from  the  Latin  tollit,  but  is  more 
probably  of  African  origin. 

The  militia  had  everlastin'  great  long  swords  as  much  as  they  could  tote.  —  Maj. 
Jones's  Courtship,  p.  39. 

Here  a- boy  was  ferociously  cutting  wood — there  one  toting  wood.  —  Carlton,  The 
New  Purchase,  Vol.  I.  p.  167. 

The  watchman  arrested  Mr.  Wimple  for  disturbing  the  peace,  and  toted  him  off  to 
the  calaboose.  — Pickings  from  the  N.  0.  Picayune,  p.  120. 

My  gun  here  totes  fifteen  buckshot  and  a  ball,  and  slings  'em  to  kill.  —  Chron.  of 
Pineville,  p.  169. 

"  Goodness  gracious  ! "  said  old  Miss  Stallins  ;  "  white  servants !  Well,  the 
Lord  knows  I  would  n't  have  none  on  'em  about  me.  I  could  never  bear  to  see  a 
white  gall  toatin  my  child  about,  and  waitin'  on  me  like  a  nigger ;  it  would  hurt  my 
conscience."  —  Maj.  Jones's  Travels. 

And  its  oh !  she  was  so  neat  a  maid. 
That  her  stockings  and  her  shoes 


TOT— TOU  m 

She  toted  in  her  lily-white  hands, 
For  to  keep  them  from  the  dews. 

Ohio  Boatman's  Song. 

ToTE-LoAD.     As  mucli  as  one  can  carry.     Southern. 

Totem.  (Algonkin  Ind.)  The  family  mark  or  coat  of  arms  of  the  North 
American  Indians. 

Speaking  of  the  Iroquois,  Mr.  Schoolcraft  says :  "  Nothing  is  more 
fully  under  the  cognizance  of  observers  of  the  manners  and  customs  of 
this  people,  than  the  fact  of  the  entire  mass  of  a  canton  or  tribe 
being  separated  into  distinct  clans,  each  of  them  distinguished  by  the 
name  and  device  of  some  quadruped,  bird,  or  other  object  of  the  animal 
kingdom.  This  device  is  called  among  the  Algonquins  (where  the  same 
sepai-ation  into  families  or  clans  exists),  tote/it,  and  we  shall  employ  the 
same  term  here,  as  being  already  well  known  to  writers."  —  Notes  on  the 
Iroquois,  p.  176. 

Think  not  that  my  blood  shall  mingle  with  the  htunble  mark  of  the  Awasees  —  fit 
totem  for  fishermen.  —  Schoolcraft,  Algic  Res. 

The  Indian  had  made  a  representation  of  a  rattlesnake  drawn  on  his  breast  with 
yellow  paint.  This  was  to  be  the  totem  or  arms  of  his  tribe.  —  Cooper,  Oak  Open- 
ings, Vol.  I.  p.  163. 

And  they  painted  on  the  grave-posts 
Each  his  own  ancestral  totem, 
Each  the  symbol  of  hi§  household. 

Longfellow,  The  Song  of  Hiawatha. 

TOTEMic.     Relating  or  belonging  to  the  totem. 

To  show  how  the  aristocratic  and  democratic  piinciples  were  made  to  harmonise 
in  the  Iroquois  government,  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  back  and  examine  tlie  law  of 
descent  among  the  tribes,  together  with  the  curious  and  intricate  principles  of  the 
totemic  bond.  — Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  the  Iroquois,  p.  126. 

TOTTLISH.     Shaking,  vacillating,  unsteady. 

Our  little  boat  was  light  and  totlish  ;  and  as  I  pressed  the  trigger  of  my  rifle,  it 
rolled  slightly  over,  and  my  ball  passed  over  the  deer.  —  Hammond,  Wild  Northern 
Scenes,  p.  207. 

Touch.  Mo  touch  to  it,  means,  not  to  compare  Avith  it.  A  common  ex- 
pression in  vulgar  language. 

The  children  of  Israel  going  out  of  Egypt  with  their  flocks  and  their  little  ones, 
is  tio  touch  to  it  [i.  e.  the  first  day  of  May  in  New  York].  — Maj.  Downing,  p.  30. 

Touch-me-not.  (Impaiiens.)  A  plant  found  about  brooks,  and  in  moist 
places.  —  Michaux,  Sylva.  A  popular  name  for  the  common  Balsam,  in 
allusion  to  the  bursting  of  its  capsules  when  touched  with  the  fingers.  It 
is  also  called  Jewel-  Weed. 

Touse.     a  noise,  or  disturbance.     A  Dorsetshire  word. 

41  * 


486  TOW  — TRA 

The  Loch  Katrin,  they  [the  Scotch]  make  such  a  touss  about,  is  jest  about  equal  to 
a  good  sizable  duck-pond  in  our  country.  — Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  30. 

Marm  Lecain  makes  such  an  eternal  towse  about  her  carpets,  that  I  have  to  go 
along  that  everlastin'  long  entry,  and  down  both  staircases  to  the  door,  to  spit.  — 
Sam  Slick. 

When  the  rats  rattle  and  kick  up  a  touse, 
'T  is  ominous  always  of  woe  to  the  house. 

Oracles  of  Mrs.  Partington. 

ToAV-BoAT.  A  vessel  used  exclusively  for  conveying  freiglit.  Fleets  of 
barges  and  canal  boats,  sometimes  numbex'ing  forty  or  fifty,  towed  by  a 
single  steam-vessel,  are  seen  on  the  Hudson  River. 

Tow-He  AD.     1.  A  term  applied  to  a  white-headed  urchin. 

2.   A  white  ripple  or  foam  in  a  river  produced  by  snags  or  other  ob- 
structions.    Western. 

An  account  of  the  blowing  up  of  a  steamboat  on  the  Mississippi  in 
1858,  says: 

The  Pennsylvania  drifted  down  about  two  miles  and  a  half,  where,  being  stopped 
by  tow-head,  she  speedily  burnt  to  the  water's  edge. 

TowHEE  GoLDHEAD.     See  Chewink. 

Town.  In  New  England  it  is  often  used  for  township,  or  a  small  territorial 
district,  whether  densely  or  thinly  inhabited.  —  Worcester. 

Track.  The  line  of  a  railroad,  or  rather  between  the  rails.  "  A  man 
walking  on  the  trach  was  run  over  and  killed."  A  car  is  said  to  be  "  off 
the  trach"  when  its  wheels  are  off  the  rails. 

Track-Sprinkleu.  a  contrivance  for  sprinkling  railroad  tracks,  in  order 
to  lay  the  dust. 

Trade.  Medicine ;  a  medical  prescription.  A  physician  informs  me  that 
Ihis  use  of  the  word  is  common  in  the  country  parts  of  Rhode  Island. 

Trail.     1.  Footstep,  track,  left  by  man  or  beast. 

Hawkeye  entered  the  water ;  and  for  near  an  hour  they  travelled  in  the  bed  of  the 
brook,  leaving  no  dangerous  trail.  —  Cooper,  Last  of  the  Mohicans. 

2.  An  Indian  footpath  or  road. 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  President  of  Texas  to  open  a  direct  road  to  Santa  Fe  by 
a  route  much  nearer  than  the  great  Missouri  trail.  —  Kendall's  Santa  Fe'  Expedition, 
Vol.  I.  p.  14. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  respective  locations  for  the  Indians  might  be  made,  apart 
from  die  great  Northern  and  Southern  trails,  thoroughfiircs  of  migration,  and  tlie  set- 
tlements limited  within  certain  prescribed  boundaries,  where  the  government  might 
protect  them  from  the  encroacliments  of  wliite  men. — Report  of  the  Philadelphia 
Committee  at  a  meeting  in  behalf  of  the  Indians,  March  31,  1848. 


TEA  — TRE  487 

To  Tra.il.  " Not  worth  shucks  to  trail"  is  a  Southern  phrase,  meaning 
of  little  value,  not  fit  to  draw  home  shucks ;  equivalent  to  the  classical 
expression,  "  not  fit  to  carry  guts  to  a  bear." 

They  had  three  or  four  hounds,  and  one  great  big  yellow  one,  what  was  n't  wonih 
shucks  to  trail.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Courtship. 

Train.  (Fr.  traineau.)  A  peculiar  kind  of  sleigh  used  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  merchandise,  wood,  etc.,  in  Canada. 

Trainers.     The  militia  when  assembled  for  exercise. 

The  gentler  sex  partake,  by  sympathy  at  least,  in  the  excitement,  by  running  after 
the  trainers. — Mrs.  Clavers's  Western  Clearings,  p.  28. 

Training-day.     The  day  when  the  militia  are  called  out  to  be  reviewed. 

To  Trampoos.  To  tramp.  The  word  is  probably  of  English  origin, 
although  not  found  in  the  English  provincial  glossaries. 

I  felt  as  lonely  as  a  catamount,  and  as  dull  as  a  bachelor  beaver ;  so  I  trampousses 
off  to  the  stable.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  ch.  2. 

So  away  goes  lunch,  and  oft"  goes  you  and  the  "  Sir  "  a  trampoosin'  and  a  ti'apsein' 
over  the  wet  grass  agin.  — Ibid.,  ch.  23. 

So  we  trampoused  along  down  the  edge  of  the  swamp,  tiU  we  came  to  a  track.  — 
Porter's  Tales  of  the  South  West,  p.  44. 

When  I  get  hum,  I  guess  that  my  narration 
Will  make  some  little  stir  among  the  nation. 
Some  yeai's  ago,  I  landed  near  to  Dover, 
And  seed  strange  sights,  trampoosing  England  over. 

D.  Humphreys,  TheYankee  in  England. 

Trash.  The  leaves  of  the  sugar  cane,  in  the  "West  Indies,  stript  from  the 
cane  to  permit  it  to  ripen.  These  leaves  are  laid  upon  the  ground,  to 
prevent  the  sun's  influence  on  the  earth,  that  every  moisture  possible  may 
be  retained  for  the  nourishment  of  the  plant.  Trash  is  also  used  for  fod- 
dering cattle  and  thatching  houses.  —  CarmichaeVs  West  Indies. 

To  Trash  Cane.     To  strip  off  the  dry  leaves  from  the  sugar-cane. 

To  Trash  a  Trail.  An  expression  used  at  the  "West,  meaning  to  con- 
ceal the  direction  one  has  taken  by  walking  in  a  stream,  or,  in  fact,  tak- 
ing to  water  in  any  way.  The  fox,  deer,  and  other  animals,  understand 
this  mode  of  escape  as  well  as  man. 

To  Tree.  To  take  refuge  in  a  tree,  said  of  a  wild  animal ;  to  force  to 
take  refuge  in  a  tree,  drive  to  a  tree,  said  of  the  hunter.  To  tree  oneself 
is  to  conceal  oneself  behind  a  tree,  as  in  hunting  or  fighting.  This  hunt- 
er's word  is  purely  American. 

Besides  treeing,  the  wild-cat  will  take  advantage  of  some  hole  in  the  groxmd,  and 
disappear  as  suddenly  as  ghosts  at  cock-crowing.  —  Thorpe's  Backwoods,  p.  180. 
Forty-five  years  ago  there  was  an  extensive  religious  excitement  in  Kentucky, 


m  TEE— TRU 

produced  by  a  man  partially  deranged,  who  had  been  a  hunter  and  who  believed 
himself  inspired.  His  proceedings  were  characterized  by  the  greatest  fanaticism,  and 
partook  of  the  character  of  the  man  as  a  hunter.  In  order  to  resist  the  devil  and 
make  liim  flee  from  you,  it  was  necessary,  he  contended,  to  give  him  chase,  to  tree 
and  shoot  him  as  you  would  a  wolf  among  the  slieep,  who  came  but  to  devour.  As 
the  meeting  was  held  in  a  grove,  one  individual  suddenly  started  in  pursuit,  as  he 
supposed,  of  the  devil ;  and  others  of  a  peculiar  nervous  temperament,  having  no 
power  to  resist,  involuntarily  joined  in  the  pursuit :  and  this  was  called  the  "  running 
exercise !  "  One  climbed  up  a  tree  ;  and  others  caught  the  mania.  This  was  called 
the  "  climbing  exercise ! "  Another  was  moved  to  bark ;  and  soon  others,  even  though 
they  used  every  method  to  prevent  it,  fell  to  involuntarily  barking  like  dogs,  wliile 
others  gathered  round  the  tree  praying  for  success.  This  was  called  "  ireetn^ /Ae 
devil !  "  It  was  literally  a  devil  chase !  And  such  a  time  of  running,  climbing,  dog- 
barking  and  devil-chasing  was,  perhaps,  never  known  before  or  since.  —  Evening 
{  Wash.)  Star,  May  4,  1854. 

Tree-Molasses.  Molasses  made  from  the  Sugar-maple  tree ;  a  term  very 
common  in  the  West. 

Tree-Sugar.     Sugar  made  from  the  Maple-tree.     Western. 

Triangle.     A  union  of  three  political  parties. 

Triangular.  A  triangular  contest  of  any  kind  is  one  between  three  dif- 
ferent parties. 

Tricksy.  Trickish ;  •  practising  tricks.  This  old  English  word  is  still  used 
in  the  South  and  West,  where  "  a  tricksy  horse "  is  a  common  expres- 
sion. 

Trimmings.     The  accessories  to  any  dish. 

A  cup  of  tea  with  trimmings,  is  always  in  season ;  and  is  considered  as  the  ortho- 
dox mode  of  welcoming  any  guest.  —  Mrs.  Clavers,  A  New  Home. 

The  party  luxuriated  at  Florence's  [eating-house]  on  lobster  and  trimmings. — 
Knickerbocker  Mag.,  Aug.,  1845. 

To  Troll.  A  method  of  fishing,  by  a  long  line  attached  to  the  stern  of  a 
boat,  which  is  set  in  motion  by  sails  or  muffled  oars.  A  squid,  a  piece  of 
tin,  or  a  strip  of  red  and  white  cloth,  is  attached  to  the  hook,  which,  pass- 
ing rapidly  along  the  surface  of  the  water,  is  seized  by  the  fish.  Striped 
bass  and  Blue-fish  are  generally  caught  in  this  way. 

Those  who  prefer  the  more  active  and  invigorating  practice  of  our  much  admired 
art,  will  find  trolling  for  this  beautiful  game  fish  [the  Striped  bass]  as  exciting  a  recre- 
ation as  any  that  comes  within  the  angler's  reach.  —  Amer.  Angler's  Guide,  p.  237. 

Truck.  1.  Stuff;  and  especially,  vegetables  raised  for.  market,  called  also 
market-truck.     South  and  West. 

They  purchased  homespun,  calico,  salt,  rum,  tobacco,  and  such  other  truck  as  their 
ueecssaries  called  for.  —  Chronicles  of  Pineville,  p.  40. 

The  fact  is,  if  the  people  of  Georgia  don't  take  to  makin'  homespun  and  sich 


TRU— TUC  489 

truck  for  themselves,  and  quit  their  everlastin'  fuss  about  the  tariff  and  free  trade, 

the  first  they  '11  know,  the  best  part  of  their  population  will  be  gone  to  the  new 

States.  —  Maj.  Jones's  Travels. 
Now  they  passed  down  into  Punkatees  Neck ;  and  in  their  march  they  found  a 

large  wigwam  full  of  Indian  truck,  which  the  soldiers  were  for  loading  themselves 

with.  —  Church's  Indian  War,  1716. 

"  What  do  the  doctors  give  for  the  fever  and  ague  1 " 

"  Oh,  they  give  abundance  o'  truck."  —  Georgia  Scenes,  p.  192. 

2.  A  two-wheeled  vehicle  drawn  by  a  horse,  and  used  for  transporting 
merchandise.  In  New  England  the  terms  truck,  truckman,  and  truckage 
are  commonly  used,  instead  of  cart,  cartman,  and  cartage,  employed  else- 
where. 

The  Boston  truck  is  constructed  of  two  long  parallel  shafts,  hewn  from  the  best  of 
oak,  winter-felled,  well-seasoned,  and  free  from  faults.  These  shafts  are  twenty-five 
feet  long,  ten  inches  wide,  and  five  inches  thick ;  strengthened  underneath,  in  the 
middle  portion,  with  shorter  pieces  of  the  same  width.  The  upper  ends  of  the 
shafts  are  cut  curving  and  shaped  round,  to  fit  the  sides  of  the  wheel-horse.  They 
are  then  framed  together  by  two  transverse  pieces ;  the  well-compacted  structure  is 
placed  upon  a  low  axle,  supported  by  wheels  which  are  three  feet  in  diameter ;  and 
thus  the  truck  is  complete.  — E.  Everett,  Mount  Vernon  Papers,  No.  III. 

Truckage.     The  charges  for  carrying  on  a  truck  ;  cartage. 
Trucking.     The  cultivation  of  vegetables  and  fruits  for  market. 

Truckman.     The  driver  of  a  truck. 

The  truckman  is  in  keeping  with  his  tmck  and  his  horses  :  regularly  six  feet  two 
in  his  shoes  ;  stout  in  proportion  ;  temperate,  intelUgent,  patient.  —  E.  Everett,  Mt. 
Vernon  Papers,  No.  III. 

Truck-Patch.     A  piece  of  ground  devoted  to  rearing  vegetables. 

Trustee  Process.  The  name  given,  in  the  New  England  States,  to  the 
process  of  foreign  attachment.  The  strict  trustee  process  extends  to  the 
goods,  effects,  and  credits  of  the  principal  debtor  in  the  hands  of  his 
agent,  trustee,  or  debtor,  and  who,  as  trustee,  is  summoned  to  appear  and 
answer.  It  does  not  extend  to  the  real  estate  in  the  hands  of  the  trustee. 
—  CusMng  on  Trustee  Process. 

In  personal  actions,  brought  in  the  court  of  common  pleas  or  the  supreme  court, 
the  suit  may  be  commenced  by  process  of  foreign  attachment,  or  trustee  process,  in 
the  manner  prescribed  by  law.  —  Laws  of  Massachusetts. 

To  Try  on.  To  try ;  to  attempt.  "  I  'm  too  wide  awake  to  be^  cheated, 
so  you  need  not  try  it  on."     A  vulgarism  of  recent  origin. 

To  Tuck  on.  Ta  unduly  increase  or  enhance.  "  That  horse  is  not  worth 
half  what  you  gave  for  him.  The  dealer  has  tucked  it  on  to  you  pretty 
well." 

TuCKAHOE.     1.   [Sclerotium  giganteum.)     The  Virginia  truffle.     A  curi- 


4»0  TUC— TUL 

ous  vegetable,  sometimes  called  by  the  name  of  Indian  Bread  or  Indian 
Loaf,  found  in  the  Southern  States  bordering  on  the  Atlantic.  It  is  a 
natural  production,  the  origin  of  which  has  greatly  perplexed  naturalists, 
as  it  is  commonly  found  several  feet  under  the  surface,  and,  like  the  truf- 
fle of  Europe,  has  apparently  no  stem  or  leafy  appendage  connecting  it 
with  the  external  atmosphere.  They  are  generally  found  through  the 
instrumentality  of  hogs,  whose  acute  sense  of  smelling  enables  them  to 
fix  upon  the  spot  where  they  lie  buried.  They  are  usually  of  a  globular 
or  flattened  oval  shape,  and  rather  regular  surface,  the  large  ones  resem- 
bling somewhat  a  brown  loaf  of  coarse  bread.  The  size  varies  from  an 
acorn  to  the  bigness  of  a  man's  head.  Its  name,  tiichahoc,  is  Indian,  and 
is  said  to  designate  bread.  —  Farmer's  Encyclopedia. 

Out  of  the  ground  the  Indians  dig  earth-nuts,  wild  onions,  and  a  tuberous  root 
they  call  tuckahoe,  which,  while  crude,  is  of  a  very  hot  and  virulent  quality ;  but 
they  manage  to  make  bread  of  it,  etc.  —  Beverly's  Virginia,  Book  III. 

2.   The  term  tuchahoe  is  often  applied  to  an  inhabitant  of  Lower  Vir- 
ginia, and  to  the  poor  land  in  that  portion  of  the  State. 

Tuckered  out.     Tired  out.     Used  in  New  York  and  New  England. 

I  guess  the  Queen  don't  do  her  eating  very  airly ;  for  we  sot  and  sot,  and  waited 
for  her,  till  we  got  eenamost  tuckered  out.  —  N.  Y.  Family  Comp. 

How  are  you  this  morning,  Mrs.  Ashton  ? 

Law  sakes  alive  !  I  'm  clear  tuckered  out  with  these  young  ones.  They  've  had  the 
agur  this  morning,  and  are  as  cross  as  bear  cubs.  —  Story  of  the  Bee  Tree. 

We  fought  until  we  were  completely  tuckered  out.  When  we  compared  notes,  he 
had  got  my  right  eye,  and  I  had  chawed  off  both  his  ears.  —  Southern  Sketches, 
p.  123. 

TuK,  for  took.     A  vulgar  pronunciation,  common  to  North  and  South. 

Tulare.     A  marsh  in  which  Tule  abounds.     Texas  and  California. 

TuLE.  (Scripus  lacustris.)  The  Mexican  name  for  a  sort  of  bulrush  cov- 
ering immense  areas  in  the  Sacramento  Valley,  Klamath  ]3asin,  and  on 
the  Columbia  river. 

We  enter  the  square  of  the  Alamo,  San  Antonio.  This  is  all  Mexican.  Window- 
less  cabins  of  stakes,  plastered  with  mud,  and  roofed  with  river  grass  or  tule,  liouses 
of  adobes,  with  groups  of  brown  idlers  round  the  doors.  —  Olmsted's  Texas. 

Now  I  found  a  comfortable  house  built  by  putting  upright  poles  in  the  ground, 
thatching  them  with  tules,  and  covering  the  sides  with  the  same.  —  Wood's  Report  to 
Postmaster- General  Brown,  p.  25. 

Tulip-Tree.  {Liriodendron  tulipifera.)  A  large  tree  bearing  flowers 
resembling  the  tulip.     Also  called  Whitewood. 

The  tulip-tree,  high  up, 
Opened,  in  airs  of  June,  her  multitude 
Of  golden  chalices  to  humming-birds 
And  silken-winged  insects  of  the  sky.  —  Bryant,  The  Fountain. 


TUM  — TYP  491 

Tumble-Bug.     The  Dung-beetle,  called  in  England  Tumble-dung. 

It  is  strange,  my  hearers,  that  we  mortals  should  be  so  attached  to  this  mundane 
sphere  of  ours.  .  .  .  With  all  its  frauds  and  deceptions,  we  cling  to  it,  as  it  turns 
upon  its  axis,  like  a  tumble-bug  to  his  ball,  when  it  accidentally  rolls  down  hill.  — 
Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  211. 

To  Tump.  Probably  an  Indian  word.  It  means  to  draw  a  deer  or  other 
animal  home  through  the  woods,  after  he  has  been  killed.  "  We  tumped 
the  deer  to  our  cabin."     Maine. 

Tumpline.  a  strap  placed  across  the  forehead  to  assist  a  man  in  carrying 
a  pack  on  his  back.  Used  in  Maine,  where  the  custom  was  borrowed 
from  the  Indians. 

TuM-TuM.  A  favorite  dish  in  the  "West  Indies,  made  by  beating  the  boiled 
plantain  quite  soft  in  a  wooden  mortar.  It  is  eaten  like  a  potato  pudding, 
or  made  into  round  cakes  and  fried.  —  CarmichaeVs  West  Indies,  Vol.  I. 
p.  183. 

Tuna.     (Span.)     The  fruit  of  the  Pitahaya,  or  Indian  Fig. 

Excellent  pulque  is  made  here,  and  a  beverage  expressed  from  the  juice  of  the 
,      tuna,  which  I  tasted  for  the  first  time.  —  Buxton's  Adventures,  p.  69. 

Tupelo.     See  Pepperidge. 

Turkey.  A  drunken  man  is  sometimes  said  to  have  "  got  a  turkey  on  his 
back."  Perhaps  the  allusion  is  to  his  having  won  one  at  a  raffle  in  a 
drinking-place. 

Turn  of  Meal.     A  quantity  of  grist  sent  to  mill.     Tennessee. 

Turner.     (Germ.)     A  gymnast. 

Turpentine  State.  The  State  of  North  Cai-olina,  so  called  from  the 
quantity  of  turpentine  obtained  from  its  pine  forests. 

TwiSTiCAL.     Tortuous,  perverse.     A  factitious  word. 

He  may  be  straight  going,  farzino,  manwards  ;  but  in  his  dealings  with  t'  other 
sex,  he  is  a  leetle  twistical,  according  to  their  tell.  I  would  n't  make  a  town  talk  of 
it.  —  D.  Humphreys,  The  Yankee  in  England. 

To  Twitch.  To  draw  timber  along  the  ground  by  a  chain.  Used  by 
lumbermen  in  Maine. 

Typo,  a  contraction  of  typographer.  A  name  sometimes  given  to  composi- 
tors in  a  printing  oiRce.     Comp.  Jour. 

Wlien  a  boy,  the  writer  became  acquainted  with  an  old  bookworm  of  a  man  who 
was  in  possession  of  a  manuscript  Avritten  in  1714-1716,  by  two  ambitious  typos,  en- 
titled, "The  Desultorj'  Meditations  of  Two  London  Printers." — The  Printer, 
Dec.  1858. 


492  UGL  — UNC 


U. 

Ugly.  Ill-tempered,  vicious.  A  term  applied  both  to  men  and  animals. 
It  is  local  in  England,  and  colloquial  in  the  United  States. 

The  questions  of  the  spies  were  answered  in  a  sullen^  swaggering  manner ;  so 
much  so  that  Captain  Caldwell  at  once  remarked  to  his  men,  in  a  low  tone  and  in 
English,  that  these  fellows  looked  ugly  and  fighty.  —  Kendall's  Santa  F^,  Vol.  I. 
p.  133. 

Umbrella-Tree.  (^Magnolia  tripetala.)  The  popular  name  of  this  tree 
in  the  Southern  States ;  from  the  large  leaves  closely  arranged  around 
the  ends  of  its  branches. 

Uncle.  Used  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  States  in  accosting  an  elderly 
■colored  man. 

Uncle  Sam.  The  cant  or  vulgar  name  of  the  United  States  government ; 
sometimes  called  Brother  Jonathan.  It  is  used  as  "  John  Bull "  is  in 
England.  Mr.  Frost,  in  his  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  gives 
the  following  account  of  the  origin  of  the  name  : 

"  Immediately  after  the  last  declaration  of  war  with  England,  Elbert 
Anderson  of  New  York,  then  a  contractor,  visited  Troy,  on  the  Hudson, 
where  was  concentrated,  and  where  he  purchased,  a  large  quantity  of 
provisions,  beef,  pork,  etc.  The  inspectors  of  these  articles  at  that  place 
were  Messrs.  Ebenezer  and  Samuel  Wilson.  The  latter  gentleman  (in- 
variably known  as  '  Uncle  Sam ')  generally  superintended  in  person  a 
large  number  of  workmen,  who,  on  this  occasion,  were  employed  in 
overhauling  the  provisions  purchased  by  the  contractor  for  the  army. 
The  casks  were  marked  '  E.  A.  —  U.  S.'  This  work  fell  to  the  lot  of  a 
facetious  fellow  in  the  employ  of  the  Messrs.  Wilson,  who,  on  being 
asked  by  some  of  his  fellow-workmen  the  meaning  of  the  mark  (for  the 
letters  U.  S.,  for  United  States,  were  then  almost  entirely  new  to  them), 
said,  '  he  did  not  know,  unless  it  meant  Elbert  Anderson  and  Uncle  Sam ' 
—  alluding  exclusively,  then,  to  the  said  '  Uncle  Sam'  Wilson.  The 
joke  took  among  the  workmen,  and  passed  currently ;  and  '  Uncle  Sam  ' 
himself,  being  present,  was  occasionally  rallied  by  them  on  the  increasing 
extent  of  his  possessions. 

"  Many  of  these  workmen  being  of  a  character  denominated  '  food  for 
powder,'  were  found,  shortly  after,  following  the  recruiting  drum,  and 
pushing  toward  the  fi'ontier  lines,  for  the  double  purpose  of  meeting  the 
enemy  and  of  eating  the  provisions  they  had  lately  labored  to  put  in 
good  order.  Their  old  jokes  accompanied  them,  and  before  the  first 
campaign  ended,  this  identical  one  first   appeared  in   print ;  it   gained 


UNC  — UND  493 

favor  rapidly,  till  it  penetrated  and  was  recognized  in  every  part  of  the 
country,  and  will,  no  doubt,  continue  so  while  the  United  States  remain  a 
nation." 

Mr.  Wilson  died  in  Troy,  New  York,  in  August,  1854,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four  years  ;  and  the  Albany  Argus,  in  noticing  his  death,  referred 
to  the  circumstance  above  stated  as  the  origin  of  the  popular  soubriquet 

of  Uncle  Sam. 

For  I  have  loved  my  country  since 
My  eye-teeth  filled  their  sockets. 
And  Uncle  Sam  I  reverence, 
Partic'larly  his  pockets. 

J.  R.  Lowell,  Biglow  Papers. 

Uncommon.  Uncommonly^  very.  This  adverbial  use  of  the  word  is  heard 
in  the  vulgar  speech  of  both  England  and  America. 

It  struck  me  with  astonishment  to  hear  people  huzzaing  for  me  ;  and  took  me  so 
uncommon  unexpected,  as  I  had  no  idea  of  attracting  attention.  —  Crockett,  Tour 
Down  East,  p.  17. 

Unconscionable.  Enormous  ;  vast.  A  low  word.  —  Johnson.  Used 
adverbially  at  the  "West,  as  in  the  following  example  : 

"  That 's  an  unconscionable  slick  gal  of  your'n,"  says  I ;  and  it  did  tickle  his 
fancy  to  have  her  cracked  up,  'cause  he  thought  her  creation's  finishin'  touch  —  so 
did  I !  —  Robb's  Squatter  Life. 

Under  Conviction.  To  be  under  conviction  (scil.  of  sin),  is  a  common 
expression,  applied  to  a  person  who  feels  a  remorse  for  sins  committed, 
and  is  desirous  to  be  received  into  the  pale  of  the  church. 

A  chaplain  at  one  of  our  state  prisons  was  asked  by  a  fi-iend  how  his  parishion- 
ers were.     "  All  under  conviction,"  was  the  answer.  — Newspaper. 

Underground  Railroad.  The  means  of  conveyance  by  which  fugitive 
slaves  are  enabled  to  escape  to  the  free  States  and  Canada. 

It  is  probable  that  nothing  has  awakened  more  bitterly  the  animosity  of  the  slave- 
holding  community  than  the  existence,  in  the  Noithem  States,  of  an  indefinite  yet 
very  energetic  institution,  known  as  the  underground  railroad.  —  Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred. 
Vol.  II.  p.  302. 

He  [Connelly]  regarded  the  underground  railroad  as  a  peculiarly  Southern  institu- 
tion, taking  away  from  the  South  every  year  thousands  of  the  most  intelligent,  rest- 
less, and  desperate  negroes,  who  would  do  infinitely  more  mischief  if  kept  there.  — 
N.  Y.  Tribune,  June,  1858. 

And  now,  if  we  may  believe  the  promises  made  by  the  Democrats  for  two  years 
past,  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a  political  millennium.  .  .  .  There  is  to  be  no  more  "  agi- 
tation "  of  the  slavery  question.  The  underground  railroad  is  to  suspend  running, 
and  rejoicing  hosts  of  negroes  are  to  return  from  the  bleak  wilds  of  Canada  to  the 
luxurious  delights  of  life  on  the  plantation.  — Albany  Evening  Journal,  Dec.  1857. 

Underpinners.  The  legs,  which  in  English  flash  language  are  called. 
pins, 

42 


494  UNI  — UPP 

Union.  In  a  political  sense,  the  connection  between  the  States  of  North 
America  ;  also  the  body  of  States  so  connected. 

Do  the  people  of  the  South  consider  the  present  Union  of  these  States  as  an  evil 
in  itself,  and  a  thing  tliat  it  is  desirable  we  should  get  rid  of  under  all  circumstances  ? 
There  are  some,  I  know,  who  do ;  but  I  am  satisfied  that  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  the  South  would,  if  assured  that  this  government  was  hereafter  to  be  conducted 
on  the  true  principles  and  construction  of  the  Constitution,  decidedly  prefer  to  re- 
main in  the  Union  rather  than  incur  the  unknown  costs  and  hazards  of  setting  up  a 
separate  government.  — Speech  of  Hon.  J.  H.  Hammond,  Oct.  27,  1858. 

To  Up  Jib.  To  be  off.  A  sailor's  phrase,  much  used  in  familiar  language 
in  Nantucket. 

Up  to  the  Hub.  To  the  extreme  point.  The  figure  is  that  of  a  vehicle 
sunk  in  the  mud  up  to  the  hub  of  the  wheels,  which  is-  as  far  as  it  can  go. 

"  You  've  beam  tell  of  the  bank  and  tariff  questions  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  new  editor  of  the  Eagle  newspaper. 

"  Well,  boss,  we  expect  you  to  be  right  co-chuck  up  to  the  huh  on  them  thar  ques- 
tions, and  pour  it  into  the  enemy  in  slashergaff  style."  —  Robb,  Squatter  Life,  p.  31. 

"  For  my  part,"  said  Abijab,  grimly,  "  if  things  was  managed  my  way,  I  should  n't 
commune  with  nobody  that  did  n't  believe  in  election  up  to  the  hub."  —  Mrs.  Stowe, 
Z)rec?.  Vol.  I.  p.  311. 

Upland  Cotton,  as  opposed  to  Sea  Island,  is  not  necessarily  raised  on 
high  ground ;  but  even  near  the  sea  the  fibre  is  shorter  than  that  pro- 
duced in  the  limited  region  known  as  Sea  Island. 

Upper  Crust.     The  higher  circles  ;  the  aristocracy. 

I  want  you  to  see  Peel,  Stanley,  Graham,  Shiel,  Russell,  Macauley,  old  Joe,  and 
so  on.     They  are  all  upper  crust  here.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England. 

The  Upper  Ten  Thousand,  or  simply,  The  Upper  Ten.  The  upper 
circles  of  New  York,  and  hence  of  other  large  cities.  A  phrase  in- 
vented by  N.  P.  Willis. 

The  Biscaccianti  troupe  commence  their  season  of  Italian  opera  at  the  Chestnut 
to-morrow  night.  The  seats  for  the  first  night  are  already  many  of  them  engaged  j 
and  engaged  too  by  the  very  cream  of  our  "  upper  ten ; "  while  the  moderate  demo- 
cratic prices  of  admission  which  have  been  Avisely  adopted,  will  invite  large  slices 
of  the  honest  and  hearty  masses.  —  Letter  from  Philad.  N.  Y.  Herald. 

Researches  in  some  of  the  upper  ten  districts 

Reveal  the  most  painful  and  startling  statistics. 

Of  which  let  me  mention  only  a  few 

In  one  single  house,  on  the  Fifth  Avenue. 

Butler,  Nothing  to  Wear. 

Uppertendom.    The  aristocracy ;  people  of  fashion.    Comp.  Japonicadom. 

His  rich  relatives  were  always  in  such  a  panic  lest  uppertendom  should  discover 
that  their  cousins  lived  in  an  unfashionable  part  of  the  town,  dined  at  one  o'clock, 
and  noticed  trades-people  and  mechanics.  —  Fanny  Fern. 


UPS— V  AM  495 

At  a  ball  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  was  a  commingling  of  uppertendom  with  lower- 
twentydom  —  an  avalanche  of  exclusiveness  in  a  torrent  of  mobocracy.  —  Doesticks, 
p.  131. 

Mr.  Duganne,  in  his  poem  entitled  "  Parnassus  in  Pillory,"  speaking 
of  N.  P.  Willis,  says  : 

Gad  !  what  a  polish  uppertendom  gives 

This  executioner  of  adjectives  ; 

Tiiis  man  who  chokes  the  English  worse  than  Thuggists, 

And  turns  the  trade  to  trunk-makers  or  druggists. 

Upset  Price.  At  public  auctions  an  article  is  sometimes  "  set  up,"  or 
"  started,"  by  the  auctioneer  at  the  lowest  price  at  which  it  can  be  sold. 
This  is  called  the  upset  price. 

To  Use  up.     To  exhaust,  wear  out. 

Moving  on  the  first  day  of  May  in  New  York  has  used  me  up  worse  than  building 
forty  acres  of  stonewall.  —  Maj.  Downing,  May  Day  in  New  York. 

Well,  being  out  night  arter  night,  she  got  kinder  used  up  and  beat  out,  and  unbe- 
kno^vnst  to  me  used  to  take  opium.  —  ASani  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  192. 

Hans  has  been  really  ill ;  five  days  do^\Ti  with  severe  pains  of  the  limbs,  have 
left  him  a  "  little  weak,"  which  with  him  means  well  used  up.  —  Kane,  Arctic  Expe- 
dition, Vol.  II.  p.  100. 


V. 

Vacher.  (French.)  The  stock  or  cattle  keeper  on  the  prairies  of  the 
South-west.  His  duty  is  also  to  break  wild  horses,  to  run  cattle,  and  to 
brand  calves. 

To  Vamose.  (Span,  vamos,  let  us  go.)  Used,  in  the  South-west  chiefly, 
in  the  sense  of  to  depart,  decamp,  be  off.  A  curious  grammatical  perver- 
sion. 

I  couldn't  stand  more  than  this  stanza,  coming  from  a  street  voice  compared  with 
which  the  notes  of  a  hand-saw  are  positively  dulcet,  and  I  accordingly  vamosed.  — 
iV.  Y.  Mirror,  May,  1848. 

Yankee  Sullivan's  house,  comer  of  Ftankfort  and  Chatham  streets,  is  in  a  danger- 
ous condition  ;  its  foundation  walls  having  been  partial!}'  undermined  for  the  pur- 
pose of  excavating  a  cellar.  Its  occupants  received  some  very  ominous  premonitions 
of  a  do^vnfall  early  yesterday  morning,  and  forthwith  vamosed  with  tlieir  baggage. 
—  Journ.  of  Commerce,  June,  1848." 

Madame  Anna  Bishop  gave,  on  Monday  evening  last,  a  spirited  exhibition,  and 
not  exactly  of  the  vocal  powers,  for  which  she  is  celebrated,  but  of  the  woman's  tem- 
per, of  which  she  has  undoubtedly  her  due  portion.  The  saloon  was  duly  lighted 
np,  and  verj'  soon  after  the  doors  were  opened  a  respectable  number  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  took  their  seats.  But  the  Madame  appears  to  have  been  dissatisfied  at 
the  number,  and  before  waiting  to  see  if  others  would  assemble,  the  audience  was 
unceremoniously  dismissed,  the  lights  blown  out  in  a  hufi^,  and  Ikladame  and  Men- 


496  VAM  — VES 

sieur,  fiddles,  harps,  rosin,  catgut   and    all,  vamosed.  —  Vickshurg   Sentind,  May, 
1848. 

On  Sunday  our  city  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  intense  excitement.  Between 
seventy  and  eiglity  slaves  had  disappeared.  Sevci'al  negroes  who  had  made  arrange- 
ment to  vamose,  were  left  behind,  and,  to  be  revenged,  they  gave  the  alarm.  — Wash- 
ington Paper. 

To  Vamose  the  Ranch.  To  leave  the  house,  quit  the  spot,  be  off. 
Like  the  word  vamos,  much  used  on  the  Western  frontier  and  in  the 
South.     This  is  surely  breaking  Priscian's  head  with  a  vengeance. 

The  Camanches  came  within  a  league  of  us,  but  vamosed  the  ranche  when  they 
learned  that  the  rangei's  were  here.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  141. 

Varmint.  A  corrupt  pronunciation  of  the  word  vermin,  applied  to  noxious 
wild  beasts  of  any  kind.     It  comes  to  us  from  the  North  of  England. 

There  are  more  than  a  hundred  lakes  and  brakes  in  them  diggins,that  hain't  never 
been  pressed  by  no  mortal  'ceptin'  varmints.  —  Traits  of  American  Humor. 

I  shot  tolerably  well,  and  was  satisfied  the  fault  would  be  mine  if  the  varmints  did 
not  suffer.  —  Crockett,  Tour,  p.  125. 

"  These  beavers,"  said  old  Ryan,  "  are  industrious  little  fellows.  They  are  the 
knowingest  varmint  as  I  know." — Irving's  Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

Uncas,  call  up  your  father ;  we  have  need  of  all  our  weapons  to  bring  the  cunning 
varmint  from  his  roost. —  Cooper,  Last  of  the  Mohicans,  p.  104. 

Vegetable  Ivory.     See  Tagua-Nut. 

Vegetable  Marrow.     See  Alligator-Pear. 

Vegetable  Oyster.     See  Oyster-Plant. 

Vegetarian.  A  disciple  of  a  strict  dietetic  school,  in  which  animal  food  is 
prohibited. 

Vegetarianism.     The  doctrines  of  the  Vegetarians. 

Vendibility.     Salableness. 

A  great  number  of  manufactured  articles  derive  their  vendibility  almost  entirely  from 
the  pattern  of  the  design.  — Mr.  Sheppard's  Speech  before  Maryland  Institute,  1857. 

Vendue.  (French  vendre,  to  sell,  vendu,  sold.)  A  public  auction.  This 
word  is  in  use  in  the  United  States  and  the  West  Indies ;  but  it  is  not 
common  in  England,  though  it  is  found  in  the  recent  English  dictionaries 
of  Knowles,  Oswald,  and  Smart.  —  Worcester.  The  word,  being  a  wholly 
unnecessary  one,  is  fast  becoming  obsolete  with  us. 

Venison.  In  the  United  States  this  word  means  exclusively  the  flesh  of 
deer.  In  England  it  is  applied  to  the  flesh  of  deer,  hares,  and  certain 
game  birds. 

{  Vest.     A  waistcoat,  or  garment  worn  under  a  coat.     We  almost  always 


VIG  — VOY  497 

use  this  word  instead  of  waistcoat,  which  we  rarely  apply  to  any  thing 
but  an  under  gai*ment,  as  "  a  flannel  waistcoat." 

Vigilance  Committee.  A  portion  of  the  citizens  of  a  place  who,  assum- 
ing that  the  regular  magistrates  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  execute  the 
laws,  undertake  to  watch  over  its  safety,  and  to  punish  its  criminals. 
The  most  notorious  of  these  self-constituted  bodies  have  been  those  of 
San  Francisco  and  New  Orleans. 

Few  people  abroad,  M'ho  had  been  trained  from  infancy  to  revere  "  the  majesty  of 
the  hiw,"  and  who  had  never  seen  any  crime  but  what  their  own  strong  legal  insti- 
tutions and  efficient  police  could  detect  and  punish,  could  possibly  conceive  such  a 
state  of  things  as  would  justify  the  formation  and  independent  action  of  an  association 
which  set  itself  above  all  formal  law,  and  which  openly  administered  summaiy  jus- 
tice, or  what  they  called  justice,  in  armed  opposition  and  defiance  to  the  regularly 
constituted  tribunals  of  the  country.  Therefore,  in  other  lands,  it  happened  that  the 
vigilance  committee  became  often  a  term  of  reproach,  and  people  pointed  to  it  as  a  sign 
that  society  in  California  was  utterly  and  perhaps  irredeemably  impure  and  disor- 
ganized. —  Annals  of  San  Francisco,  p.  562. 

A  hand-bill  having  been  posted  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  calling  a  meeting  of  the 
citizens  for  this  evening,  to  form  a  vigilance  committee  to  suppress  certain  secret  move- 
ments among  the  colored  population  and  to  stop  outrages  on  private  propeity,  Goy- 
emor  Wise  addressed  a  letter  to  Mayor  Mayo  calling  his  attention  to  the  movement, 
and  adding  tliat  he  would  use  force  in  prohibiting  such  meeting  from  being  held  on 
the  Capitol  square.  The  Mayor  in  reply  states  that,  knowing  the  author  of  the  hand- 
bill to  be  one  of  the  few  rowdies  of  that  city,  lie  considers  himself  a  "  vigilance  com- 
mittee "  enough  for  him  and  his  comrades,  and  therefore  deems  it  unnecessary  to  adopt 
any  unusual  measui-es  against  the  proposed  movement.  —  (Bait.)  Sun,  July  1,  1858. 

Last  month,  in  the  town  of  Maubeuge,  in  the  north  of  France,  a  Protestant  con- 
gregation was  broken  up  and  a  part  of  its  members  marched  on  a  Sunday  from  their 
place  of  worship  to  the  town  jail.  The  final  proceedings  of  the  civil  authorities  in 
the  case  were,  according  to  our  American  notions  of  right  and  law,  as  gross  a  viola- 
tion of  justice  as  vigilance  committee  or  lynching  mob  was  ever  guilty  of.  -7-  N.  Y. 
Tribune,  Sept.  30,  1858. 

ViKGiNiA  Creeper.  The  ornamental  woody  vine  Ampelopsis  quinque- 
folia,  cultivated  for  covering  walls  and  fences.  By  some  it  is  called 
"Woodbine,  and  by  others  American  Ivy. 

Virginia  Reel.  The  common  name  throughout  the  United  States  for  the 
old  English  "  country-dance  "  (contre-danse). 

Virginny,  or  Old  Virginny.  The  common  negro  appellation  of  the 
State  of  Virginia. 

Voyage.  Among  whalers,  each  man  calls  his  share  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
cruize,  which  he  receives  instead  of  wages,  his  voyage. 

VoYAGEUR.     (French.)     A  Canadian  boatman.  —  Worcester. 

The  Canadian  voyageur  is,  in  all  respects,  a  peculiar  character ;  and  on  no  point  is 
42  * 


498  VUM  — WAK 

he  more  sensitive,  than  in  the  just  distribution  of  pieces  among  the  crew  forming  a 
party.  — Sir  John  Franklin's  Narrative. 

There  is  no  form  of  wretchedness  among  those  to  which  the  checkered  life  of  a 
voyageur  is  exposed,  at  once  so  great  and  so  humiliating,  as  the  torture  inflicted  by 
the  musquitos. — Bach,  Arctic  Journal,  p.  117. 

I  VuM !  for  I  vow !  is  a  euphemistic  form   of  oath  often  heard  in  New 
England. 

"Ivum,"  said  he,  "I'm  sorry;  what's  the  matter  ?  " —  Margaret,  p.  86. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Dow,  Jr.,  in  one  of  his  edifying  discourses  on  profan- 
ity, not  inaptly  observes : 

What  though,  instead  of  saying,  "  I  swear  to  God,"  you  say,  "I  declare  to  good- 
ness ■?  "  It  is  as  much  the  same  thing  as  a  bobolink  with  a  new  coat  of  feathers.  I 
vum  is  just  the  same  in  spirit  as  I  vow,  and  a  "  diabolical  falsehood"  is  synonymous 
with  a  devilish  lie.  —  Daw's  Sermons,  Vol.  III.  p.  265. 


w. 

To  "Wabash.     "  He 's   Wabashed"  meaning  he  is  cheated,  is  an  expres- 
sion much  used  in  Indiana  and  other  parts  of  the  West. 

To  Wabble.     In  the  Western  States,  to  make  free  use  of  one's  tongue ; 
to  be  a  ready  speaker. 

Waggletail.     The  larva  of  the  mosquito,  etc. ;  also  called  a  wiggler. 

To  Wake  Snakes.     1.  To  make  a  rousing  noise ;  and  hence  to  rouse  up, 
get  into  action. 

Well,  here  I  be  ;  wake  snakes,  the  day's  a-breaking.  —  Southern  Sketches,  p.  119. 
Come,  wake  snakes,  and  push  off  with  the  captain,  and  get  the  fish  on  board.  — 
Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature,  p.  164. 

2.  To  have  a  rousing,  roaring  time. 

Hozea  Bigelow  (introduced  to  us  by  his  friend  Lowell  the  poet),  in 
speaking  of  military  service,  says  : 

This  goin'  where  glory  awaits  ye,  haint  one  agreeable  featur' ; 

And  if  it  warn't  for  wakin'  snakes,  I  'd  be  home  agin  short  metre." 

Wake-up.     See  Clape. 

To  Wake  up  the  wrong  Passenger.  To  make  a  mistake  in  the  in- 
dividual. A  modern  substitute  for  the  old  phrase,  "  To  get  the  wrong 
sow  by  the  ear."  The  allusion  is  to  the  custom  on  board  steamboats,  of 
arousing  or  waking  passengers  at  stopping  places  at  night,  when  frequent 
mistakes  are  made  and  the  wrong  person  called  up. 
The  t3Tant  coquette,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Thinks  her  lover  must  mind  the  rein  just  like  a  horse ; 


WAL  499 

Discouraged  he  leaves  her,  she  sees  her  mistake, 
And  laments  that  she  did  the  wrong  passenger  wake. 

The  Stage  Driver's  Ball,  Comic  Song. 

Sam  Slick  gives  the  following  account  of  an  interview  between  an  abo- 
litionist preacher  and  a  contented  slave.  The  former  addressing  the 
slave,  says : 

"  Poor,  ignorant  wretch  !  " 

"Massa,"  replied  the  negro,  "you  has  waked  up  de  wrong  passenger  dis  time.  I 
is  n't  poor.  I  ab  plenty  to  eat,  and  plenty  to  drink.  When  I  wants  money.  Missus 
gives  it  to  me.  When  I  wants  wild  ducks  or  venison,  all  I  got  to  do  is,  to  say  to  dat 
Yankee  obcrseer,  '  Missus  and  I  want  some  canvas-back  or  some  deer.'  "  —  Human 
Nature,  p.  289. 

To  Walk  the  Chalk.     To  walk  straight. 

"  The  Tallapoosa  volunteers,"  said  Capt.  Suggs ;  "  so  let  every  body  look  out 
and  walk  the  chalk."  —  Simon  Suggs,  p.  89. 

To  Walk  into.  To  get  the  upper  hand  of;  to  take  advantage  of;  to 
punish.     A  common  vulgarism. 

To  loalk  into  a  down-east  land-jobber  requires  great  skill,  and  a  very  considerable 
knowledge  of  human  natm-e.  —  Sam  Slick,  3d  Series,  p.  122. 

I  went  into  the  dining-room,  and  sot  down  afore  a  plate  that  had  my  name  writ 
on  a  card  onto  it,  and  I  did  walk  into  the  beef,  and  taters,  and  things,  about  east.  — 
Hiram  Bigdow's  Lett,  in  Family  Comp. 

The  way  in  which  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  walks  into  the  character  and  reputOr 
tion  of  some  of  their  old  associates  in  the  Clay  movement,  is  a'caution  to  respectable 
blackguards,  and  makes  Wall  street  journalism  a  rival  to  Five  Point  eloquence.  — 
New  York  Herald,  Sept.  16,  1858. 

Walking  Papers,  or  Walking  Ticket.  Orders  to  leave  ;  a  dismissal. 
When  a  person  is  appointed  to  a  public  office,  or  receives  a  commission, 
he  receives  papers  or  documents  investing  him  with  authority ;  so  when 
he  is  discharged,  it  is  said,  in  familiar  language,  that  "  he  has  received  his 
tvalking  papers,  or  his  walking  tichst." 

It  is  probable  that  "  walking  papers  "  Avill  be  forwarded  to  a  large  proportion  of 

the  corps  diplomatique  during  the  session  of  Congress.     B and  B are  already 

admonished  to  return,  and  the  invitation  will  be  pretty  general.  —  N.  Y.  Herald, 
Letter  from  Washington. 

We  can  announce  with  certainty  that  the  Hon.  Mr.  D has  received  liis  walk- 
ing ticket,  accompanied  with  some  correspondence  with  his  Excellency  that  has  given 
him  offence. — Kingston,  Canada,  Whig,  Dec.,  1843. 

Mr.  Duane  was  ordered  to  remove  the  deposits.  He  answered  that  his  duty  did 
not  require  it.  In  a  few  hours  he  got  his  walking  ticket  that  his  services  were  no 
longer  wanted.  —  Crockett,  Tour  down  East,  p.  30. 

"  If  you  ever  question  me  again,"  said  Mrs.  Samson  Savage,  "  you  '11  get  your 
walking  ticket  in  short  order."  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  307. 

Wall  Rock.     Granular  limestone,  used  in  the  building  of  walls. 


•500  WAL  — WAM 

To  "Wallop.  To  beat.  Provincial  in  England  and  colloquial  in  the 
United  States. 

I  grabs  right  hold  of  the  cow's  tail,  and  yelled  and  screamed  like  mad,  and  wcd- 
lopped  away  at  her  like  any  thing.  — Sam  Slick  in  England,  eh.  18. 

There 's  nothing  like  wallopping  for  taking  the  conceit  out  of  fellows  who  think 
they  know  more  than  their  betters.  —  J.  C.  Neal,  Orson  Dabbs. 

All  I  know  was  wallopped  into  me.  I  took  larnin'  through  the  skin.  —  Neal's 
Charcoal  Sketches. 

Walt.  Crank.  A  ship  is  said  to  be  wait,  when  she  has  not  her  due  bal- 
last, that  is,  not  enough  to  enable  her  to  bear  her  sails,  and  keep  her  stiff. 
Hubbard,  in  his  History  of  New  England,  speaking  of  Lamberton's  ill- 
fated  ship,  says,  that "  she  was  ill-built,  very  w^a^^sided." — Hep.  Alex.  Young, 
note  to  Chron.  of  Massachusetts. 

The  next  year  brought  a  Flemish  fly-boat  of  about  140  tons,  which  being  unfit  for 
a  fishing  voyage,  and  wanting  lodging  for  the  men,  they  added  unto  her  another 
deck,  by  which  means  she  was  carried  so  high  that  she  proved  wait  and  unable  to 
bear  sail.  —  White,  the  Planter's  Plea,  1630,  p.  1. 

In  the  North  of  England,  wait  means  to  totter ;  to  overthrow.  — Halli- 
weU. 

Wamble-cropped.  Sick  at  the  stomach ;  and  figuratively,  crest-fallen ; 
humiliated.     New  England. 

There  stood  Capt.  Jumper,  shaking  General  Taylor's  hand  when  he  came  on 
board  the  "  Two  Pollys,"  trying  to  get  a  start  in  the  address,  but  could  not ;  and 
then  I  tried  it.  I  never  saw  Capt.  Jumper  so  wilted  down  before  —  and  that  made 
me  feel  so  wamble-cropt  I  could  not  say  a  word.  —  Maj.  Downing,  Letter  from 
Baton  Rouge,  June  15,  1848. 

The  Captain  looked  so  awful  wotnble-cropt,  that  I  pitied  him.  I  never  saw  such 
an  uncomfortable  looking  countenance.  — Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  284. 

Wampum.  (A  term  in  the  Algonkin  languages  signifying  white,  the  color 
of  the  shells  most  frequent  in  wampum  belts.)  Shells,  or  strings  of  shells, 
used  by  the  American  Indians  as  money.  These,  when  united,  formed 
a  broad  belt,  which  was  worn  as  an  ornament  or  girdle.  It  was  some- 
times called  wumpumpeage,  or  wampeage.     See  Peage. 

The  Indians  are  ignorant  of  Eui'ope's  coin.  Their  own  is  of  two  sorts :  one 
white,  which  they  make  of  the  stem  or  stock  of  the  periwinkle,  wlien  all  the  shell  is 
broken  off ;  and  of  this  sort  six  of  tlieir  small  beads,  which  they  make  with  holes  to 
string  the  bracelets,  are  current  with  the  English  for  a  penny.  The  second  is  black, 
inclining  to  blue,  which  is  made  of  the  shell  of  a  fish,  which  some  English  call  hens, 
Poquahock :  and  of  this  sort  three  make  an  English  penny.  Their  white  money 
they  call  wompam,  which  signifies  white ;  their  black,  Suckanhock,  Sucki,  signify- 
ing black.  — R.  Williams,  Key  to  the  Indian  Language. 

Though  the  young  Indian  women  are  said  to  prostitute  then:  bodies  for  wampum- 
peak  and  other  such  like  fineries,  I  could  never  find  any  ground  for  the  accusation. 
—  Beverly's  Virginia,  1705,  Book  III. 


WAN— WAR  501 

A  Sagamore  with  a  humbird  in  his  eare  for  a  pendant,  a  black  hawk  on  his  occiput 
for  a  plume,  good  store  of  wampumpeage  begirting  his  loincs,  his  bow  in  hand,  his 
quiver  at  his  back,  with  six  naked  Indian  spatterlashes  at  his  heels  for  his  guard, 
thinks  he  is  all  one  with  King  Charles. —  Wood's  New  England,  1634,  p.  66. 

And  there  the  fallen  chief  is  laid. 
In  tassell'd  garb  of  skins  arrayed 
And  girdled  with  his  wampum-braid. 

Whittier,  The  Funeral  Tree. 

Wangan.  (Indian.)  In  Maine,  a  boat  used  chiefly  by  lumbermen  for 
carrying  provisions,  tools,  etc. 

Among  the  dangers  [of  lumbering  in  Maine]  where  life  and  property  are  hazarded, 
is  that  of  "  running  the  wangan,"  —  a  plu-ase  well  understood  on  the  river.  —  The 
Americans  at  Home,  Vol.  III.  p.  254. 

Wan't.  a  common  New  England  contraction  for  was  not  and  were  not. 
Comp.  Aint  and  Haint. 

Want  to  Know.  Among  the  most  common  singularities  of  expression 
are  the  following :  "  I  should  admire  to  see  him,"  for  "  I  should  like  to 
see  him;"  ^^  I  want  to  know /"andi  "Do  tell!"  both  exclamations  of 
surprise,  answering  to  our  "  Dear  me; ! "  These  last,  however,  are  rare- 
ly heard  in  society  above  the  middling  class.  —  LyelVs  Second  Visits 
ch.  ix. 

Wapiti.  (^Cervus  canadensis.')  The  American  elk,  or  stag.  Probably 
the  Iroquois  name  for  this  noble  animal. 

Wapatoo.  a  name  given  by  the  Oregon  Indians  to  the  bulb  of  the  Sag- 
gitaria  variabilis,  used  by  them  as  an  article  of  food. 

Warden.  A  town  officer  in  two  of  the  island  towns  of  Rhode  Island, 
New  Shoreham  and  Jamestown,  with  similar  privileges  and  jui-isdiction 
within  his  town  that  justices  of  the  peace  have  throughout  their  respec- 
tive towns  and  counties.  —  Const,  of  JR.  1.  Revised  Statutes  of  M.  1., 
Tit.  25,  Ch.  168. 

War-Path.     a  march  to  battle,  warlike  expedition  of  the  Indians. 

The  Lenape  would  not  go  to  the  war-path,  because  they  did  not  think  it  well.  — 
Cooper,  Last  of  the  Mohicans. 

When  on  the  war-path,  more  than  ordinaiy  care  is  taken  to  adorn  the  body,  and 
the  process  of  painting  occupies  a  considerable  time.  —  Ruxton's  Adv.  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  p.  237. 

The  hunters  walked  in  single  file,  following  their  leader,  like  Indians  on  a  war- 
path. —  Mayne  Reid,  The  Boy  Hunters,  p.  254. 

War- Who  OP.     The  Indian  cry  of  war ;  a  yell  made  on  attacking  a  foe. 

Ere  dark  pestilence 
Devoured  his  warriors  —  laid  his  hundreds  low  — 


502  WAR  — WAY 

That  Sachem's  ivar-whoop  roused  to  his  defence 
Three  thousand  bow-men.  ■^—  Dur/ee,  Whatcheer;  Canto  III. 

The  red  men  say  that  here  she  walked 

A  thousand  moons  ago ; 
They  never  raise  the  war-whoop  here, 
And  never  twang  the  bow.  —  Bryant. 
We  must  trust  to  the  experience  of  men  who  know  the  ways  of  the  savages,  and 
who  are  not  often  backward  when  the  war-whoop  is  howled.  —  Cooper,  Last  of  the 
Mohicans. 

Warji-us.  a  sort  of  roundabout  jacket  made  of  homespun  cloth,  and 
worn  without  buttons,  being  tied  across  the  bodj  by  the  loAver  corners. 
Indiana. 

Warrant-Trying.  The  magistrates'  monthly  courts  at  the  cross-roads. 
Virginia. 

Wastage.    The  accidental  waste  of  a  barrel,  box,  etc. 

Water-Dogs.  The  Western  name  for  various  species  of  salamanders,  or 
lizard-shaped  animals,  with  smooth,  shiny,  naked  skins  ;  sometimes  called 
Water-puppies  and  Ground-puppies.  In  Pennsylvania  and  the  Eastern 
States  they  are  called  Spring-keepers  and  Man-eaters. 

Water-Lot.     A  lot  of  building-ground  covered  by  water. 

An  act  passed  by  the  legislature,  ceding,  for  the  period  of  ninety-nine  years,  all 
the  right  and  interest  which  the  State  of  California  had  in  those  parts  of  the  city 
called  the  Beach  and  Water  Lots,  provided  that  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  all  moneys 
thereafter  arising  in  any  way  from  the  sale  or  other  disposition  of  the  said  property 
should  be  paid  over  by  the  city  to  the  State.  — Annals  of  San  Francisco,  p.  324. 

Water-Shed.     A  word  formed  in  imitation  of  the  German  Wasserscheide 

(water-divide),  to  denote  a  height  of  land  which  separates  waters  flowing 

in  different  directions ;  better  termed  "  dividing  ridge."     See  Divide. 

The  crests  of  the  serpentine  water-sheds  gradually  diverging  towards  the  Tejon, 

where  there  is  an  impinging  of  the  two  masses  to  such  a  degree,  as  to  completely 

envelop  the  plain.  —  Lt.  Parke,  Pacific  Railroad  Report,  Vol.  VII.  p.  5. 

Water-Oats.     See  Canada  Rice. 

Water-Witch.  1.  A  person  who  pretends  to  have  the  power  of  discover- 
ing subterranean  springs  by  means  of  the  divining  rod,  made  once  from 
the  witch-hazel,  but  now  more  commonly  from  the  peach-tree. 

In  many  parts  of  the  country  not  a  well  is  dug  without  a  previous  con- 
sultation with  a  water-witch ;  and  one  who  attempts  to  run  counter  to 
the  popular  delusion  is  in  danger  of  having  his  "  common  sense  "  doubted. 
2.   An  aquatic  bird.     See  Dipper. 

Wayfaring-Tree.     See  HohUe-Bush. 


WAY  — WEE  503 

Ways,  for  way,  distance,  space.     A  very  common  vulgarism. 
It 's  only  a  little  ways  down  to  the  village.  — Margaret,  p.  123. 

There  's  no  Two  Ways  about  it,  i.  e.  the  fact  is  just  so,  and  not 
otherwise.  A  vulgarism  of  recent  origin,  equivalent  to  the  common 
phrase,  "  There  's  no  mistake  about  it"  or,  "  It's  just  as  I  tell  you,  and 
no  mistake." 

Jist  so,  jist  so,  stranger  ;  you  are  just  about  half  right,  and  there's  no  two  ways 
about  it.  — Sam  Slick,  3d  ser.  ch.  7. 

There 's  no  two  tvays  about  that,  sir ;  but  arn't  you  surprised  to  see  such  a  fine  pop- 
ulation "?  —  Hoffman,  Winter  in  the  West. 

Wax-Myrtle.  (Genus,  Myrica.)  A  shrub,  of  which  there  are  several 
species,  bearing  a  bei'ry  covered  with  a  shining  wax,  which  is  prepared 
for  commerce  by  the  poor  people  along  the  Northern  lakes.  Also  called 
Candleberry  Myrtle. 

Wax-Plant.  (3Ionotropa  unijlora.)  A  perfectly  white,  fleshy  plant, 
looking  as  if  made  of  wax.  Before  the  fruit  matures,  the  heads  are  bent 
over ;  hence  the  name  "  Indian  Pipe." 

Weak  Fish.     See  Squeteague. 

To  AVear  the  Collar.  In  political  parlance,  to  be  subject  to  the  con- 
trol of  another ;  to  be  directed  in  political  matters. 

Weather.  "  Fine  weather  overhead,"  means  a  clear  sky.  "  We  are  going 
to  have  falling  weather"  means  we  are  going  to  have  rain,  snow,  or  hail. 
"  He 's  under  the  weather"  is  a  figurative  expression,  meaning  badly  off; 
in  straightened  circumstances. 

Wed.  Sometimes  vulgarly  used  for  tveeded ;  as,  "  He  wed  the  garden." 
Comp.  plead  for  pleaded. 

Weed.  A  common  term  for  tobacco;  as,  "Do  you  use  the  weed?"  mean- 
ing, Do  you  chew  tobacco  ? 

Those  who  were  not  dancing  were  seated  around  the  room,  some  smoking,  others 
chewing  the  iveed,  still  othei's  drinking.  — Mysteries  of  New  York,  p.  89. 

By  the  appearance  of  the  shirt  bosoms  of  some  inveterate  chewcrs  of  the  weed,  I 
should  judge  they  had  been  squirting  their  juice  in  the  face  of  a  north-easter.  — 
Dow's  Sermons,  Vol.  III. 

Weedy- Weedy.  A  plant  resembling  spinach,  much  used  in  the  -West 
Indies.  —  OarmichaeVs  West  Indies. 

Weevil.  The  name  is  given  in  this  country  to  at  least  six  different  kinds 
of  insects,  two  of  which  are  moths,  two  are  flies,  and  two  are  beetles.  — 
Harris f  Insects  injurious  to  Vegetation,  p.  18. 


504  WEL  — WHA 

"Well  to  Do.  In  a  state  of  ease  as  to  pecuniary  circumstances ;  well  off. 
—  Holloway. 

By  all  accounts  you  are  considerable  well-to-do,  and  have  made  an  everlastin' 
sight  of  money  among  the  Blue  Noses  of  Nova  Scotia.  —  Sam  Slick. 
The  old  lady  being  now  ivell-to-do,  in  a  spiiitual  sense.  —  Boston  Times. 

Well  to  Lite.  1.  In  easy  circumstances ;  well  off.  This  expression, 
like  the  preceding,  is  of  English  origin. 

I  wanted  to  see  how  these  Northerners  could  buy  our  cotton,  carry  it  home,  man- 
ufacture it,  bring  it  back,  and  sell  it  for  half  nothing ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  be 
well  to  live,  and  make  money  besides.  —  Crockett,  Tour. 

2.  In  New  England,  a  cant  phrase  to  denote  a  person  in  that  state  of 
intoxication  in  which  he  drives  dull  care  away,  and  fancies  himself  at  the 
top  round  of  fortune's  ladder. 

"Wench.  In  the  United  States,  this  word  is  applied  only  to  black  women 
and  girls. 

The  blushing  morn  at  length  came  travelling  up  from  the  oriental  clime,  and 
sowed  the  earth  with  pearls  and  diamonds,  that  glittered  upon  the  dark  bosom  of 
night  like  jewels  upon  the  brow  of  an  Ethiopian  wench,  —  Dow's  Sermons,  Vol. 
III.  p.  111. 

"Went.  Sometimes  used  by  uneducated  persons  for  gone.  "Yesterday 
was  Good-Friday,  and  you  should  have  went  to  church."  Pegge  includes 
it  among  the  London  vulgarisms. 

"West.  The  "Western  States  of  the  American  Union,  especially  those  lying 
to  the  west  of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina. 

The  enterprising,  ingenious,  and  indomitable  North ;  the  substantial  and  magnifi- 
cent Central  States,  the  great  balancc-whcel  of  the  system ;  the  youthful,  rapidly  ex- 
panding, and  almost  boundless  West ;  the  ardent,  genial,  and  hospitable  South,  — 
I  have  traversed  them  all.  —  Speech  of  E.  Everett,  July  5,  1858. 

"Westerner.     A  native  or  resident  of  the  "West. 

To  Whale.  1.  To  thrash;  to  beat.  Colloquial  with  us  and  in  the  north 
of  England. 

2.   Usually  to  whale  away.     To  talk  vehemently  ;  to  harangue. 

Professor  Stubbins  is  always  a  whalin'  away  about  the  dignity  of  labor,  and  has 
been  deliverin'  a  course  o'  lectures  on  the  subject.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers,  p.  289. 

I  went  to  Baptist  meeting.  The  elder,  as  usual,  whaled  away  through  his  nose, 
thumped  the  desk,  and  went  over  and  over  the  same  thing,  without  ever  making  the 
most  remote  approach  to  any  thing  like  the  shadow  of  an  idea.  —  lb.  p.  105. 

Whaler.    A  big,  strapping  fellow. 

"  He 's  a  whaler ! "  said  Eery ;  "  but  his  face  is  mighty  little  for  his  body  and 
legs."  —  Georgia  Scenes,  p.  184. 

Whaling.    A  lashing ;  a  beating. 


W  H  A  505 

But  it  is  possible  that  we  may,  at  some  future  time,  go  to  war  with  England,  — 
her  WT-iters  and  speakers  having  spoken  disparagingly  of  us,  wliile  her  actors,  half- 
pay  officers,  and  other  travelling  gentry,  carry  their  heads  rather  high  in  passing 
through  our  country,  —  for  which  "  arrogant  "  demeanor  we  are  bound  to  give  her 
awhali))(j.'  —  iV.  y.  Tribune,  Aug.  1847. 

Whap  !     An  interjection  expressive  of  a  sudden  blow,  like  whack  / 

But  a  day  of  payment  is  coming;  and  if  the  money  ain't  forthcoming,  out  comes 
a  Randolph  writ,  and  ichap  goes  your  money  and  liberty.  —  Crockett's  Speech,  Tour, 
p.  109. 

I  began  to  think  smokin'  wam't  so  bad  after  all,  when  whap  went  my  cigar  right 
out  of  my  mouth  into  my  bosom.  —  Sam  Slick  in  England,  eh.  2. 

To  Whap  over.     To  knock  over.     New  England. 

Whapper,  or  "Whopper.  Any  thing  uncommonly  large ;  a  monstrous  lie. 
This  word  is  provincial  in  various  parts  of  England,  and  is  common  with 
us. 

"  Do  you  call  them  large  turnips  ?  " 
"  AATiy,  yes,  they  are  considerably  large." 

"  They  may  be  so  for  turnips,  but  they  are  nothing  to  an  onion  I  saw  the  other 
day." 

"  And  how  large  was  the  onion  1  " 
"  Oh  !  a  monster ;  it  weighed  forty  pounds." 
"Forty  pounds!" 

"  Yes ;  we  took  off  the  layers,  and  the  sixteenth  layer  went  completely  round  a 
demijohn  that  held  four  gallons  !  " 
"  What  a  tohopper ! " 
"  You  don't  mean  to  say  that  I  lie  ?  " 

"  Oh !  no ;  what  ^whopper  of  an  onion,  I  mean."  — New  York  Spirit  of  the  Times. 
Before  you  lie,  brethren,  make  up  your  minds  to  go  it  strong ;  for  a  little  callow 
fib  stands  but  a  small  chance  among  the  big  whoppers  that  are  let  loose  now-a-days. 
As  my  friend  Pope  might  have  said  : 

A  little  lying  is  a  dangerous  thing  ; 

Go  your  whole  length,  or  never  make  a  spring. 

Daw's  Sermons,  Vol.  I.  p.  91. 
A  few  years  ago,  whopping  great  sleeves  and  big  antecedents  were  all  the  rage ; 
and  what  a  funny  figure  our  belles  did  then  cut.  — Ibid.,  Vol.  III.  p.  21. 

Whappixg,  or  Whopping.     Very  large. 

We  've  got  only  one  crib,  and  that 's  a  whappin'  one  too.  —  Maj.  Downing's  Let- 
ters, p.  67. 

A  whappin'  big  pan  of  mush  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  table,  and  a  large  pan  of 
milk  beside  it,  with  lots  of  corn-bread  and  butter.  — Robb,  Squatter  Life,  p.  61. 

Whahf-Boat.  On  the  Western  rivers  the  height  of  the  water  is  so  vari- 
al^  that  a  fixed  wharf  would  be  useless.  In  its  place  is  used  a  rectaj^ 
gular  float,  in  part  covered,  for  the  reception  of  goods,  or  for  a  dram-shop. 
It  is  generally  aground  on  the  shore  side,  and  is  entered  by  a  plank  or 
movable  platform.    This  is  a  wharf-boat. 

43 


506  WHA  — WHE 

"Wharf-Rats.     1.   Rats  that  inhabit  wharves. 

2.   Thieves  that  infest  the  wharves  of  seaport  towns. 

"Wharves.  Mr.  Pickering  notices  this  form  of  the  plural  of  wharf,  as 
peculiar  to  Americans.  The  English  say  wharfs.  In  the  Colony  and 
Province  Laws  of  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Pickering  says,  he  observed  the 
plural  wharfs  (or  wharfes)  as  late  as  the  year  1735  ;  but  after  that 
period  the  form  wharves  is  used. 

What  for  a,  is  frequently  used  by  Pennsylvanians,  instead  of  "  What 
kind  of  a,"  in  asking  questions.  It  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  German 
idiom,"  Was  fur  ein^  —  New  Amer.  Cyclopedia. 

Whatcheer.  The  shibboleth  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island. 
When  Roger  Williams,  the  founder  of  this  ancient  colony,  pushed  his 
way  from  Salem,  Massachusetts,  in  the  year  1636,  through  the  wilder- 
ness, he  embarked  in  a  canoe  with  five  others,  on  Sekonk  river,  and  land- 
ed near  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Providence.  As  the  party 
approached  the  shore,  they  were  saluted  by  a  company  of  Indians  with 
the  friendly  interrogation  of  "  What  cheer  ?  "  a  common  English  phrase 
which  they  had  learned  from  the  colonists,  equivalent  to  the  modem 
How  do  you  do  ?  and  meant  by  the  natives  as  Welcome ! 

The  cove  where  the  party  landed  is  called  "  Whatcheer  Cove,"  which 
term  is  also  applied  to  the  lands  adjacent;  besides  which  there  is  in 
Providence  a  "  Whatcheer  Bank,"  a  "  Whatcheer  Church,"  "  Whatcheer 
hotels,"  a  "  Whatcheer  Insurance  Company,"  and,  last  of  all,  a  "  What- 
cheer Lager  Beer  Saloon  ! " 

Judge  Durfee,  a  Rhode  Island  poet,  has  rendered  this  event  memorable 
by  an  interesting  poem  entitled  "  Whatcheer,  or  Roger  Williams  in  Ban- 
ishment."    In  describing  the  landing  of  his  hero,  he  says  : 

And  straight  the  kindling  words  burst  on  his  ear, 

Their  shouts,  embodied,  sought  the  joyous  sky 
With  open-  arms,  and  greeting  of  Whatcheer  ! 

Lined  all  the  shores,  and  banks,  and  summits  high. 
Whatcheer  !  Whatcheer  !  resounded  far  and  near, 

Whatcheer  !  Whatcheer  !  the  hollow  words  reply ; 
Whatcheer  I  Whatcheer  !  swells  the  exulting  gales. 

Sweeps  o'er  the  laughing  hills,  and  trembles  through  tlie  vales. 

To  Wheal.    To  swell. 

The  father  discovered  a  gainsome  expression  of  face.  .  .  .  His  cheeks  wheaJcd 
and  puffed,  and  through  his  lips  his  laughter  exposed  his  white  teeth.  —  Margaret, 
p.  10. 

Wheat  and  Indian.  A  mixture  of  wheat  flour  and  the  meal  of  Indian 
corn. 


WHE  — WHI  50f 

Wheeling.  The  act  of  conveying  on  wheels,  or  driving  a  wheeled  vehicle. 
It  is  good  or  bad  wheeling,  according  to  the  state  of  the  roads. 

It  is  mid-winter  still,  and  there  is  snow  on  the  ground  ;  but  the  sleighing  is  not  as 
good  as  it  was,  and  the  state  of  the  streets  admits  wheeling.  —  The  Upper  Ten  Thou- 
sand, p.  30. 

"Wheel-Horse.    An  intimate  friend ;  one's  right  hand  man.     Western. 

Which  ?  An  absurd  word  used  by  some  persons  instead  of  What  ?  in  ask- 
ing for  a  repetition  of  what  has  been  said. 

Whig  and  Tort.  During  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution,  the  terms 
Whig  and  Tory  were  applied  —  the  former  to  those  who  supported  the 
revolutionary  movement ;  the  latter  to  the  royalists,  or  those  who  ad- 
hered to  the  British  government.  Tory  was  then  a  stigma  of  the  most 
reproachful  kind. 

Whigs  and  Democrats.  It  is  very  difficult  to  give  a  precise,  accurate, 
and  satisfactory  definition  of  the  principles  distinctively  held  by  the  two 
great  political  parties  into  which  the  population  of  the  American  Union  is 
divided,  —  one  popularly  styling  itself  the  Democratic,  the  other  the  Whig 
party.  In  point  of  fact,  the  satirical  definition  of  the  outs  and  the  ins 
would  not  be  very  far  out  of  the  way ;  for  the  doctrines  of  government  and 
legislation  theoretically  advanced  by  the  Democratic  party,  when  out  of 
power,  are  not  so  radically  diverse  from  those  of  the  Whigs  in  the  same 
condition,  as  are  the  practices  of  either,  when  in  power,  from  their  pro- 
fessions. As  times  change  and  circumstances,  the  demands  or  wishes  of 
these  parties  change  also ;  so  that  what  was  Whig  doctrine  in  1830,  may 
be  Democratic  doctrine  in  1850,  and  vice  versa. 

The  nominal  distinctions,  some  years  ago,  were,  on  the  Whig  side,  a 
Protective  Tariff,  a  National  Bank,  Division  of  the  Proceeds  of  the  Pub- 
lic Lands  among  all  the  States,  and  the  duty  of  the  General  Government 
to  carry  on  works  of  Public  Improvement,  such  as  Canals,  Roads,  etc.,  etc. 

The  Democrats  were  for  Free  Trade,  no  connection  of  the  govern- 
ment with  Banking,  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  Public  Lands 
among  the  States  in  which  the  lands  lie,  and  non-interference  by  the 
government  with  Internal  Improvements. 

But  all  these  CLuestions  have  rarely  been  brought  to  the  practical  test. 
Absolute  free  trade  has  ever  been  impracticable,  because  it  would  deprive 
the  government  of  the  revenue  derived  from  imposts.  The  government 
has  always  been  obliged  to  carry  on  some  kind  of  financial  operations, 
differing  more  in  name  than  in  reality  from  a  system  of  banking  consid- 
ered as  a  means  of  supplying  a  currency.  The  pubhc  lands  have  rarely 
yielded  any  proceeds  beyond  the  wants  of  the  government.     And  the 


508  WHI 

only  real  question,  fairly  at  issue,  has  been  that  of  improvement  in  pub- 
lic works. 

The  Democrats  popularly  charge  upon  the  Whigs  a  desire  to  strength- 
en and  centralize  the  National  Government,  declaring  themselves  to  be 
in  favor  rather  of  strengthening  the  local  governments  of  the  several 
States,  and  of  limiting,  as  far  as  constitutionally  possible,  the  agency  of 
the  National  Government,  or  government  of  the  Union  ;  but  in  practice 
the  Democratic  party  is  ready  enough  to  assume  power  for  the  General 
Government  when  any  thing  is  to  be  gained  by  so  doing ;  and  in  this,  as 
in  most  other  instances,  the  difference  between  the  two  parties  lies  rather 
in  words  than  in  deeds. 

The  Whigs,  on  the  other  hand,  popularly  charge  upon  the  Democrats 
an  undue  degree  of  subserviency  to  the  Executive,  especially  since  the 
elevation  of  General  Jackson  to  the  presidency  in  1829  ;  and  this  charge 
seems  to  have  more  foundation  in  truth.  It  is  certain,  at  all  events,  that 
the  three  Democratic  presidents,  Jackson,  Van  Buren,  and  Polk,  have 
found  a  more  zealous  and  unscrupulous  support  in  questionable  measures 
than  was  ever  given  to  a  Whig  president,  or  indeed  to  any  of  their  pre- 
decessors. 

Perhaps,  on  the  whole,  it  may  be  truly  said,  that  the  main  practical 
difference  betAveen  the  Whigs  and  Democrats  lies  in  the  fact  that  the" 
latter  give  a  more  unhesitating  and  thorough-going  support  to  all  meas- 
ures which  involve  the  question  of  party -measures,  which  become,  by  any 
means  party  tests,  whether  emanating  from  the  Executive  or  adopted  by 
him  under  impulse  from  his  adherents.  —  [J.  Inman.'] 

Whiggism,  or  Whiggery.  Whig  principles ;  the  doctrines  of  the  Whig 
party.  These  words  have,  in  the  United  States,  lost  their  original  oppro- 
brious meaning,  and  are  frequently  used  by  the  Whigs  themselves  in 
speaking  of  their  doctrines. 

Professor  Amasa  Walker  here  came  forward,  and  said  they  all  stood  together  upon 
the  same  platform,  and  he  had  heard  too  much  of  Whiggery  about  their  proceedings 
already ;  and  as  they  stood  upon  a  broad  platform,  he  as  a  Democrat  protested 
against  their  throwing  in  so  much  Whiggery  and  entertaining  them  about  Gen.  Tay- 
lor's wliite  horse.  —  Rep.  of  a  Freesoil  Convention  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  June  28,  1848. 

The  Whigs  in  Boston  see  by  the  movement  in  New  York,  and  by  accounts  from 
Ohio,  that  there  is  a  chance,  at  least,  of  General  Taylor  being  vigorously  opposed  by 
some  men  of  undoubted  Whiggery  in  influential  States.  —  Letter  from  Boston,  in  N. 
Y.  Herald,  June  21,  1848. 

While,  for  till.  "  Stay  while  I  come,"  instead  of.  Stay  till  I  come.  Used 
in  the  Southern  States.  —  Sherwood's  Georgia. 

To  Whip  the  Cat.     I  can  give  no  other  explanation  of  the  phrase  than 


WHI  509 

to  quote  the  following  passage  by  Mr.  Goodrich,  who,  in  describing  the 
early  customs  of  New  England,  says  : 

Twice  a  year  the  tailor  came  to  the  house  and  fabricated  the  semi-annual  stock  of 

clothes  for  the  male  members,  this  being  called  whipping  the  cat.  —  Reminiscences, 

Vol.  I.  p.  74. 

To  Whip  the  Devil  round  a  Stump.  To  make  false  excuses  to  one's 
self  and  others  for  doing  what  one  likes. 

While  Mr.  Jones  is  describing  his  wants  in  the  money  line,  and  telling  the  presi- 
dent how  "  near  through  "  he  is,  that  officer  is  cariying  on  a  mental  addition,  it  may 
be  after  this  manner:  "Jones,  you're  a  clever  fellow,  but  Smith  tells  me  you  are  en- 
gaged in  a  coal  stock  operation.  I  have  heard  also  that  you  have  been  dabbling  in 
Erie.  There  is  a  want  of  candor  now,  I  perceive,  in  the  statement  of  your  affairs. 
There,  you  are  now  whipping  the  devil  around  the  stump ;  I  see  his  foot." —  N.  Y.  Even- 
ing  Post,  1857. 

"Whiskey-root.  A  plant  of  the  Cactus  species  possessing  intoxicating 
properties,  which  is  thus  described  by  a  correspondent  of  the  New  Or- 
leans Picayune :  "  It  is  what  the  Indians  call  Pie-o-ke.  It  grows  in 
southern  Texas,  on  the  range  of  sand-hills  bordering  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  in  gravelly,  sandy  soil.  The  Indians  eat  it  for  its  exhilarating  eflfect 
on  the  system,  it  producing  precisely  the  same  as  alcoholic  di-inks.  It 
is  sliced  as  you  would  a  cucumber,  and  these  small  pieces  chewed,  the 
juice  swallowed,  and  in  about  the  same  time  as  comfortably  tight  cock- 
tails would  'stir  the  divinity  within'  you,  this  indicates  itself;  only  its 
effects  are  what  I  might  term  a  little  more  k-a-v-o-r-t-i-n-g,  giving 
rather  a  wilder  scope  to  the  imagination  and  actions." 

White  Fish.     See  Menhaden. 

White  Frost.     Hoar-frost.     Western. 

White  Settlements.  The  settlement  of  Kentucky,  the  first  Western 
State,  was  by  an  emigration  from  Virginia  through  the  Cumberland  Gap. 
The  fertile  soil,  which  was  the  temptation,  lay  in  the  middle  of  the  State ; 
and  the  surrounding  region,  being  comparatively  poor  (except  in  coal 
and  iron),  was  neglected,  although  traversed  by  the  whole  emigration. 
The  centre,  or  "  Garden  spot,"  was  called  " The  White  settlements"  while 
Indians  still  lingered  on  its  outskirts. 

Now  that  these  comparatively  poor  regions  of  the  State  have  become 
inhabited,  the  name  is  still  retained,  and  without  explanation  would  be 
deeined  absurd ;  for  all  the  Indians  have  disappeared  long  ago,  and  negroes 
are  only  to  be  found  in  numbers  on  the  large  farms  of  these  very  white 
settlements. 

The  phrase  seems  to  be  used  only  by  those  who  live  between  the 
mountains  and  the  region  so  designated,  in  which  the  term  is  never  used, 
although  well  understood.  —  [  (r.  G.  Schaeffer.'] 

43* 


510  W  HI  — WHO 

"White  Trash.  A  term  applied,  especially  by  negroes,  to  the  poor  white 
people  of  the  South.     See  Poor  White  folks. 

In  social  relations  the  negroes  are  sensitive  to  the  overbearing  propensities  of  a 
proprietary  who  are  accustomed  to  regard  all  neighbors  out  of  their  own  class  as 
white  trash.  —  Olmsted's  Texas. 

Of  all  the  pizen  critters  that  I  knows  on,  these  ere  mean  white  trash  is  the  pizenest. 
They  aint  got  no  manners  and  no  bringing  up.  — Mrs.  Stowe,  Dred,  Vol.  II. 

"  The  fact  is,"  said  Mr.  Gordon,  "  what  with  niggers,  and  overseers,  and  white 
trash,  my  chances  of  salvation  are  dreadfully  limited."  —  Ibid.  Vol.  I.  p.  271. 

"Whiteavood.     See  Tulip-Tree. 

Whit-Pot.  A  kind  of  pudding.  New  England.  It  is  the  White-Pot 
of  Devonshire. 

Whit-Potting.  A  term  used  in  Nantucket  for  visiting  among  relations 
and  friends. 

To  Whittle.  To  cut  or  dress  with  a  knife.  The  word  as  well  as  the 
practice  of  whittling  for  amusement  is  so  much  more  common  with  us, 
especially  in  New  England,  than  in  the  old  country,  that  its  use  may  not 
improperly  be  regarded  as  an  Americanism. 

Dexterity  with  the  pocket-knife  is  part  of  a  Nantucket  education  ;  but  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  the  propensity  is  national.  Americans  must  and  will  whittle.  — N,  P. 
Willis. 

In  the  "  Yankee  Ballad  "  by  Miss  Abby  Allin,  in  speaking  of  the  New 
Englander,  she  says : 

No  matter  where  his  home  may  be — 

What  tlag  may  be  unfurled, 
He  '11  manage  by  some  cute  device 
To  whittle  through  the  world. 

The  Pierce  administration,  which  came  into  power  vnth.  a  majority  of  eighty,  has 
now  been  whittled  down  to  ten,  as  appeared  by  the  vote  on  the  Ostend  convention.  — 
Providence  Journal. 

Whittled.     Tipsy,  drunk. 

Whole  Cloth.  A  lie  made  out  of  whole  cloth,  is  one  in  which  there  is 
no  admixture  of  truth. 

Isn't  this  entire  story  about  your  Jersey  graxi^moth.QT  made  out  of  whole  doth — 
spun  on  your  own  wheel,  with  your  tongue  for  the  spindle  ? — C.  Mattheivs,  The  Motley 
Book,  p.  68. 

Whole-footed.     Sound. 

So  Mr.  D has  shown  liis  cloven  foot  to  the  South  at  last.    I  never  believed 

he  was  whole-footed.    I  never  had  confidence  in  him.  —  Richmond  South,  Dec.  1857. 

Whole  Heap.   Many ;  several ;  much ;  a  large  congregation.  An  expres- 


WHO  — WIG  511 

sion   peculiar  to  certain  parts  of  the  South  and  West.  —  Sherioood^s 
Georgia. 

"Whole-souled.  Noble-minded.  A  phrase  in  great  favor  with  persons 
fond  of  fine  talking  and  fine  writing,  like  the  following  extract  from,  a 
rhapsody  about  a  fourth  of  July  oration  of  Mr.  Choate's  : 

The  soaring  and  revelling  ideas,  the  whole-souled  patriotism,  the  gorgeous  word- 
painting,  the  flow  and  headway  of  resistless  emotion,  were  all  suited  to  the  audience, 
whicli  hung  entranced  upon  the  lips  of  the  orator.  —  Boston  Journal,  July,  1858. 

Whole  Team.  To  say  that  a  man  is  a  whole  team,  signifies,  in  Western 
parlance,  that  he  is  possessed  of  uncommon  powers  of  body  or  mind. 

Among  other  amplifications   of  the  phrase  is  that  of  a  whole  team  and 
a  horse  to  spare. 

The  author  of  a  series  of  lively  sketches  in  Blackwood's  Magazine,  on 
"  Canada  and  the  North-west  States,"  says  : 

I  once  heard  a  Yankee  describe  the  greatest  friend  he  possessed  in  the  world,  as 
"  a  hull  team  and  a  horse  to  spare,  besides  a  big  dog  under  the  wagon,"  —  Vol. 
LXXVIII.  p.  336. 

In  a  sketch  of  fashionable  society  in  New  York,  the  writer  thus  speaks 
of  a  specimen  of  Young  America  :. 

Here's  the  fii'st  curiosity  of  the  place.  He's  just  three  years  old  rising;  can 
drive  a  horse  on  a  straight  road ;  eats  every  thing  he  can  get,  and  drinks  every 
liquid  in  the  house  except  ink.  Is  n't  he  a  beauty  1  Is  n't  he  a  whole  team  and  one 
horse  extra  ?  —  The  Upper  Ten  Thousand. 

"Whoosh.  A  term  used  in  backing  a  horse.  I  have  never  heard  this  word 
except  in  Nantucket.  In  Moor's  Suffolk  Glossary  it  is  defined  as  "  an 
imperative,  commanding  the  fore-horse  of  a  team  to  bear  to  the  left." 
Mr.  Forby,  on  the  contrary,  in  his  Norfolk  Glossary,  says  "  Wbosh  wo  !  " 
means  "  Go  to  the  right."  Both  authors  derive  it  from  the  French 
gauche. 

"Wicket.  A  place  of  shelter,  or  camp  made  of  the  boughs  of  trees,  used 
by  lumbermen  in  Maine. 

WicOPY.     See  Leather-  Wood. 

"Wide  Awake.     On  the  alert ;  ready ;  prepared. 

Miss  Harriet  had  more  clothes  and  more  money  than  the  rest ;  because  she  waa 
always  wide  awake,  and  looking  out  for  herself.  —  Mrs.  Stowe's  Dred,  Vol.  I.  p.  210. 

In  the  morning,  and  before  sunrise,  Bogard,  who  was  a  Yankee  and  a  wide  atvake 
fellow,  thrust  his  head  out  from  under  his  robe,  exclaiming,  as  he  grasped  for  his 
gun,  "  By  darn,  look  at  old  Cale  !  "  —  Catlin's  North  Am.  Indians,  Vol.  I.  p.  71. 

"Wiggle.  To  bend  the  body  rapidly  from  side  to  side ;  to  wriggle,  as  a  fish 
or  tadpole. 

"Wiggle-Tail.    The  popular  name  for  the  larva  of  the  mosquito. 


512  WIG  — WIL 

Standing  by  a  shallow,  half-stagnant  pool  on  a  midsummer's  day,  the  full  develop- 
ment of  any  number  of  "  wiggle-tails  "  to  the  mosquito  state  can  be  witnessed,  and 
the  origin  of  these  disturbers  of  night's  slumbers  thus  fully  ascertained.  —  Scientific 
American, 

"Wigwam.  An  Indian  cabin  or  hut,  usually  made  of  skins.  The  word  is 
Algonkin,  and  occurs  in  variously  modified  forms  in  the  languages  of  that 
family. 

Dark  as  the  frost-nipp'd  leaves  that  strew'd  the  ground, 

The  Indian  hunter  here  his  shelter  found ; 

Here  cut  his  bow  and  shaped  his  arrows  true. 

Here  built  his  wigwam  and  his  bark  canoe.  — Brainard,  Connecticut  River. 

Wild  Bean.  {Phaseolus  diversifolius.)  A  plant  common  in  the  alluvial 
bottoms  of  the  West,  the  Wild  Potato  of  the  Sioux  Indians,  much  used 
as  food. 

Wild-Cat.  A  bank  in  Michigan  had  a  large  vignette  on  its  notes  repre- 
senting a  panther,  which  animal  is  familiarly  called  there  a  Wild-cat. 
This  bank  failed,  having  a  large  amount  of  its  notes  in  circulation,  which 
notes  were  afterwards  denominated  Wild-cat  money,  and  the  bank  issu- 
ing them  the  Wild-cat  bank.  Other  banks  were  compelled  to  stop  payment 
soon  after,  in  consequence  of  the  want  of  confidence  in  them  ;  and  the 
term  became  general  in  Michigan,  to  denote  banking  institutions  of  an 
unsound  character.  The  term  Blue-pup  money  had  a  similar  origin,  as 
distinguished  from  Red  Dog,  which  see. 

We  had  to  sell  some  of  our  land  to  pay  taxes  on  the  rest  —  and  then  took  our  pay 
in  Wild<at  money,  that  turned  to  waste  paper  before  we  could  get  it  off"  our  hands. 
— Mrs.  Clovers' s  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  91. 

The  Leavenworth  (Kansas)  Ledger,  in  announcing  that  the  American  Bank  in 
this  city  had  suddenly  exploded,  remarks  :  "  Tiiere  are  thousands  of  dollai*s  of  its 
notes  in  the  hands  of  the  citizens  of  this  city  and  vicinity ;  how  the  notes  obtained 
a  circulation  here  is  a  mystery  to  us,  and  we  know  not  to  whom  the  blame,  if  any, 
attaches  ;  certain  it  is  that  we  are  overrun  with  a  wild-cat  currency  from  all  God's 
creation,  and  every  day  or  two  we  notice  batches  of  new  issues  scattered  amongst 
VLS." -— (Bait.)  Sun,  July  8,  1858. 

Our  banks  are  always  willing  to  offer  loans  and  facilities  to  speculators  and  wild- 
cat business  men  to  operate  with,  and  it  is  through  their  assistance  that  the  business 
of  the  country  is  disarranged.  —  Cincinnati  Enquirer. 

Wild  Cherry.  ( Cerasus  virginiana.)  A  large  American  tree,  bearing 
a  small,  astringent  fruit  resembling  a  cherry.  The  wood  is  much  used  for 
cabinet  work,  being  of  a  light  color  and  a  compact  texture.  —  Browne's 
Sylva  Americana. 

Wild  Indigo.  {Baptisia  tinctoria.)  A  plant  found  in  the  woods,  yield- 
ing a  small  quantity  of  indigo. 


WIL  — WIN  513 

Wild  Land.     Land  which  has  never  been  settled  and  cultivated ;  forest 

Wild  Oats.  (Avena  fatua.)  A  variety  of  oats  -which  grows  wild  upon 
all  the  hills  and  higher  lands  of  California,  furnishing  the  best  forage. 
It  was  probably  introduced  by  the  Spaniards. 

Wild  Potato  Vine.     See  Mechoacan. 

Wild  Rice.  (Zizania  aquatica.)  A  tall,  tubular,  reedy  water-plant, 
found  in  abundance  on  the  marshy  margins  of  the  Northern  lakes,  and  in 
the  plashy  waters  on  the  upper  courses  of  the  Mississippi.  Its  leaves 
and  spikes,  though  much  larger,  resemble  those  of  oats,  whence  the  French 
name,  folles  avoines.  INIilhons  of  migrating  water-fowls  fatten  on  it  before 
taking  their  autumnal  flight  to  the  soutli ;  while  it  furnishes  the  northern 
savages  and  the  Canadian  traders  and  hunters  with  their  annual  supplies 
of  grain. 

At  the  time  of  our  visit,  wild  rice  was  growing  abundantly  over  almost  all  the 
whole  surface  of  Lake  Koshkonong,  giving  to  it  more  the  appearance  of  a  meadow 
than  a  lake.  —  Lapham's  Antiquities  of  Wisconsin,  p,  35. 

To  Wilt.  1.  To  droop ;  to  wither,  as  plants  or  flowers  cut  or  plucked  off. — 
Holloway.  A  word  common  in  the  United  States,  and  provincial  in  Eng- 
land, where  welk  and  welt  ai'e  used  in  the  same  sense.  —  Worcester. 

Miss  Amy  pinned  a  flower  to  her  breast ;  and  when  she  died,  she  held  the  mUed 
fragments  close  in  her  hand.  — Margaret,  p.  213. 

2.  To  wilt  down,  is  a  figurative  expression  used  of  a  person  who  hangs 
his  head,  looks  sheepish. 

Some  cotton  fellar  here  bid  sixty  dollars  [for  the  slave],  and  she  wilted  right  down. 
—  Robb,  Squatter  Life. 

"  Doctor  Peter  Jones,"  ses  he,  "  I  interduce  you  to  their  Majestys  the  King  and 
Queen." 

Cousin  Pete  scraped  about  a  while,  and  then  dropt  on  one  knee  rite  afore  'em. 

"  Rise,  gallant  knight !  "  ses  Bill  Byers ;  "  lise,  we  dub  you  knight  of  the  royal 
bath." 

Cousin  Pete  got  up  and  bowed  and  scraped  a  few  more  times,  and  went  to  sit 
down  between  'em,  but  they  ris  up  jest  as  he  went  to  set  down;  and  the  first  thing 
he  knowed,  kerslosh  he  went,  rite  into  a  big  tub  of  cold  water,  with  nothing  but  his 
head  and  heels  stickin  out.  Pete  got  out  as  quick  as  he  could,  and  I  never  seed  a 
feller  so  wilted  down  in  all  my  life. — Maj.  Jones's  Courtship. 

Windfall.  The  track  of  a  whirlwind  or  tornado  in  a  forest,  where  the 
trees  are  laid  prostrate. 

In  the  country  around  Angelica  were  what  were  called  windfalls These 

tcindfalls  were  great  places  for  rabbits  and  partridges,  and  it  was  no  great  thing 
to  boast  of  to  kill  a  dozen  or  two  of  these  birds  of  an  afternoon.  — Hammond,  Wild 
Northern  Scenes,  p.  220. 


514  WIN  — WIR 

To  Wind  up.  To  close  up ;  to  give  a  quietus  to  an  antagonist  in  de- 
bate.    Also  intransitively,  to  shut  up ;  to  stop  business. 

John  Bell  of  Tennessee,  that  unmistakable  Whig,  has  rung  out  a  clear  and  far- 
sounding  note  of  alarm  concerning  tliis  Mexican  war.  He  is  as  serious  as  a  preacher, 
and  as  downright  as  a  sailor  in  the  delivery  of  his  sentiments.  A  lively  dialogue, 
constituting  a  kind  of  interlude  to  his  speech,  sprang  up  between  him  and  Mr.  Cass, 
in  which  he  pretty  effectually  "  wound  up  "  the  senator  from  Michigan.  —  N.  Y.  Com, 
Adv. 

Several  of  the  Western  banks  will  be  compelled  to  ivind  up  in  consequence  of 
their  losses  and  the  severe  pressure.  —  N.  Y.  Herald,  Sept.  1857. 

Winkle-Hawk.  (Dutch,  winhle-haah.)  An  angular  rent  made  in  cloth, 
etc.    It  is  also  called  a  winkle-hole.    A  New  York  term. 

Winter-Berry.     See  Alder. 

Winter-Cherry.     See  Ground  Cherry. 

Winter-killed.     Killed  by  the  cold  of  winter,  as  wheat,  clover,  etc. 

To  Wipe  out.  A  phrase  employed  by  the  Indians  and  hunters  of  the 
West,  meaning  to  exterminate,  annihilate  a  person  or  tribe. 

They  [the  Camanches,  Apaches,  and  others]  had  met  for  the  purpose  of  forming 
their  own  party,  in  order,  as  they,  in  their  strong  language,  said,  to  wipe  out  all 
frontier  Indians  they  could  find  on  the  plains.  —  Report  of  Com.  of  Indian  Affairs  far 
1854,  p.  90. 

The  Pima  Indians  have  got  up  another  quarrel  with  the  Apaches,  and  have  mus- 
tered upwards  of  a  thousand  warriors  to  give  them  battle.  It  is  their  determination 
to  "  wipe  out  the  Apaches,"  or,  as  they  express  it,  to  eat  them  up  entirely,  which  is  a 
consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished.  —  Alta  Californian,  July,  1858. 

"  We  are  coming  to  Lawrence,"  said  the  Missourians,  "  in  a  few  days,  to  wipe  out 
the  damned  abolition  city,  and  to  kill  and  drive  off  every  one  of  the  inhabitants."  — 
Mrs.  Robinson's  Kansas,  p.  222. 

The  Mormon  militia  under  Brigham  Young  intend  to  take  a  stand  at  the  pass  in 
the  mountains  near  Bear  River,  with  the  certainty  of  wiping  out  the  U.  S.  forces  sent 
against  them.  — Letter  from  Utah,  N.  Y.  Times,  Nov.  1857. 

Wire-Edge.  The  wire-edge  of  a  tool  is  that  stage  in  the  process  of  sharp- 
ening it  when  a  delicate  roll  or  strip  of  metal  resembling  a  fine  wire  still 
adheres  to  the  edge,  and  which  of  course  must  be  removed  before  the 
implement  can  be  in  proper  order  to  cut.  Some  persons,  however, 
seem  to  imagine  that  a  wire-edge  is  a  fine  edge,  and  hence  absurdly  use 
the  term  in  such  phrases  as  to  take  off  the  wire-edge  of  one's  appetite, 
of  a  horse's  spirit,  etc. 

He  trotted  the  first  mile  in  2  :  55,  and  the  second  in  2  :  45,  and  was  then  stopped. 

On  commencing  again  he  had,  of  course,  lost  the  "wire-edge"  of  his  speed,  yet  he 

trotted  nineteen  miles  in  57  :  43.  — N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times. 


win  — WOL  615 

"Wire-Pullers,  or  Wire-Workers.  A  term  denoting  those  who,  by 
their  secret  plots  and  intrigues,  control  the  movements  of  the  puppets  on 
the  political  stage. 

The  coming  contest  is  to  decide  whether  the  people  have  the  privilege  of  electing 
a  chief  magistrate  of  their  own  selection,  or  only  the  privilege  of  electing  one  of  two 
candidates  whom  self-elected  cliques  of  nominators  choose  to  designate.  The  fhi- 
ladelpliia  Convention  will  assemble  on  Wednesday ;  already  tliat  city  is  filled  with 
vnre-puUers,  public  opinion  manufacturers,  embr}'0  cabinet  officers,  future  ambassa- 
dors, and  the  whole  brood  of  political  make-shifts,  who  contrive  to  live  out  of  the 
public  purse  by  abusing  public  credulity.  —  N.  Y.  Mirror,  June  5,  1848. 

In  another  case,  at  a  nominating  convention,  a  "  surprise  candidate,"  youthful  in 
age,  and  in  all  other  qualifications  fiir  inferior  to  his  competitors,  obtained  the  nomi- 
nation. There  was  no  longer  any  siirprise  about  the  matter  when  it  was  subse- 
quently ascertained  that  the  tcire-workers  in  convention  had  a  deep  interest  in  a  par- 
ticular suit  at  law,  to  which  their  candidate  was  pledged  to  give  a  judgment  in  their 
favor,  in  case  of  being  the  judge.  —  Nat.  Intelligencer,  Sept.  20,  1858. 

WiRE-PuLLiNG,  or  WiRE-WoRKiNG.     Political  managing. 

Those  who  were  candidates  for  office  in  eitlier  house  [of  the  legislative  assem- 
bly of  N.  Mexico]  and  tlieir  friends  began  the  system  of  electioneering  so  prevalent 
in  other  sections  of  the  Union  ;  and  the  few  days  that  intervened  between  the  arrival 
of  the  members  and  the  meeting  of  the  assembly  were  spent  in  wire-pulling,  log-roll- 
ing, and  all  the  otlier  strategic  movements  known  in  modem  politics.  —  Davis,  El 
Gringo,  p.  251. 

Wire-Worm.  {Elater  lineatus.)  The  n^ime  Wire-worm  is  given  by 
farmers  to  the  larvae  of  various  species  of  beetles  belonging  to  the  genus 
Elater,  of  which  a  large  number  are  known  both  in  Britain  and  in  this 
country.  These  larva?  are  exceedingly  destructive,  feeding  upon  the 
roots  and  the  underground  stems  of  wheat,  Indian  corn,  grape-vines,  and 
most  varieties  of  cultivated  vegetables. 

To  Wise.  A  spinning  top  is  said  to  wise,  when  it  inclines  from  the  per- 
pendicular. 

WiSH-BoNE,  or  WiSHiNG-BoNE.  The  breastbone  of  a  fowl  is  so  familiarly 
called,  especially  by  children,  from  a  custom  connected  with  it.  The 
bone,  after  being  dried,  is  taken  by  two  persons,  who  hold  each  shank  be- 
tween their  fore-finger  and  thumb,  and  then  pull  until  it  breaks,  at  the 
same  time  wishing  for  something.  _  The  one  in  whose  fingers  the  larger 
portion  remains,  it  is  said,  will  have  his  wish. 

Witness-Trees.  In  newly  settled  countries  at  the  West,  every  mile 
square  is  marked  by  "  blazed "  trees,  and  the  comers  especially  distin- 
guished by  stakes,  whose  place  is  pointed  out  by  trees  called  witness-trees. 
—  Mrs.  Clavers's  Western  Clearings,  p.  3. 

Wolfish.     Savage.    A  Western  word. 


516  WOL  — WOO 

You  must  fight  or  play ;  so  take  your  choice,  for  I  feel  most  wolfish  and  savage- 
rous.  —  Sam  Slick,  3d  ser.  p.  117. 

They  'd  been  fightin'  the  barrel  of  whiskey  mightily  comin'  up,  and  wero  perfectly 
wolfish  arter  some  har  of  the  dog.  —  Porter's  Tales  of  the  South-west,  p.  121. 

Wolverines.  The  people  of  the  State  of  Michigan ;  Avho  are  said  to  be 
so  called  from  the  large  number  of  the  mischievous  prairie  wolves  found 
there. 

Woman's  Rights  Convention.  An  assemblage  of  persons  who  en- 
deavor by  public  discussions  to  improve  the  social  and  political  condition 
of  women. 

Thousands  of  parrots  passed  over,  with  their  peculiar  short  and  querulous  note. 
In  the  morning  and  towards  night  they  kept  up  the  most  vehement  chattering,  all 
talking  and  none  listening,  after  the  manner  of  a  Woman's  Rights  Convention. — 
Bard's  Waikna,  p.  89. 

Wonders.     In  Nantucket,  a  kind  of  cake. 

To  Wood  up.  1.  To  lay  in  a  supply  of  wood,  as  a  steamboat  at  a  land- 
ing-place. The  boats  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  in  their  long 
voyages,  are  obliged  to  make  frequent  stops  for  this  purpose. 

The  process  of  wooding-up  is  one  of  the  first  the  passenger  is  made  acquainted 
with.  The  steamer  approaches  a  dreary  shore,  without  any  thing  to  indicate  that 
civilized  man  has  ever  set  his  foot  upon  it  for  many  miles  above  or  below,  save  the 
wood-pile  and  a  small  cabin  of  the  rudest  description.  The  terms  are  usually 
agreed  upon  before  the  boat  touches  the  bank ;  and  when  it  does,  fifteen  or  twenty 
hands  throw  on  board  from  twenty  to  fifty  cords,  at  a  price  varying  from  two  to 
three  dollars,  for  which  the  woodman  pockets  his  money  and  seems  a  happy  man, 
although  cut  off  from  the  world.  — N.  Y.  Tribune,  1848. 

2.   To  take  a  dram.     Western. 

Woodbine.     See  Virginia  Creeper. 

Wooding-Place.  a  station  on  the  banks  of  a  river  where  the  steamboats 
stop  Id  take  in  supplies  of  wood. 

WooDCHUCK.     {Arctomys  monax.)     The  ground  hog,  a  rodent  mammal  of 
the  marmot  tribe.     It  burrows,  and  is  dormant  in  winter. 
Yea,  verily,  this  is  like  a  woodchuck  in* clover.  —  Margaret,  p.  48. 
My  dear  hearers,  I  've  been  trying  to  beat  [certain  truths]  into  you  with  a  sermon- 
izing sledge-hammer ;  and  you  appear  to  be  as  stupid  as  woodchucks  in  winter.  — 
Dow's  Seniions,  Vol.  III.  p.  155. 

Wood  Meeting.    The  name  given  by  the  Mormons  to  a  Camp-meeting. 

Wool  over  the  Eyes.  To  draw  the  wool  pver  one's  eyes,  is  to  impose 
upon  one,  take  one  in. 


woo  — WRE  517 

Elder  SniflBes  ain't  so  big  a  fool  as  to  have  the  wool  drawd  over  Ms  eyes  by  such 
trash  as  Sail  Hugle.  —  Widow  Bedott  Papers. 

Woolly-Heads.  A  term  applied  in  the  first  place  to  negroes,  and  then  to 
anti-slavery  politicians. 

The  law,  it  seems,  it  did  n't  work  exactly  as  it  ought, 

Though  Greeley  kept  a  sayin'  so,  and  so  his  readers  thought. 

They  're  mighty  bright,  them  woolly-heads ;  they  think  they  find  a  prize. 

If  they  can  only  pull  their  wool  o'er  other  people's  eyes. 

New  York  Paper. 

Worm  Fence.  A  rail  fence  laid  up  in  a  zig-zag  manner.  See  Stake  and 
Rider. 

Mr.  Haskell,  one  of  the  delegates  from  Tennessee,  told  a  story  about  a  man  in  his 
"  diggins,"  who  was  once  struck  by  "  Joe  Larkins,"  by  which  he  was  knocked  at 
least  forty  rods.  He  fell  against  a  worm  fence,  and  carried  away  about  forty  panels, 
rail-riders  and  all.  —  N.  Y.  Mirror, 

We  drove  master  Jack  about  the  common,  until  weahad  hemmed  him  in  an 
angle  of  a  worm  fence. —  W.  Irving,  Wolfert's  Roost,  p.  251. 

WoRRTMENT.     Trouble,  anxiety. 

The  woniment  we  have  lately  had  about  money  has  set  you  a  dreaming.  —  Sam 
Slick,  Human  Nature. 

Worst  Kind.  Used  in  such  phrases  as,  "  I  gave  him  the  worst  kind  of  a 
licking."  Also  adverbially ;  as,  "  I  licked  him  the  worst  kind,"  i.  e.  in  the 
worst  manner  possible,  most  severely. 

Wrapper.     A  loose  dress  or  gown. 

Her  dress  was  a  blue-striped  linen  short-gown,  wrapper,  or  long-short,  a  coarse 
petticoat,  checked  apron,  etc.  —  Margaret,  p.  14. 

Wrappers.     See  Leggings. 

Wrath.  Like  all  wrath,  is  a  Southern  phrase,  meaning,  violently ;  vehem- 
ently ;  angrily. 

There  ain't  much  to  interest  the  traveller  on  the  railroad  from  Hamburg  to 
Charleston.  Most  of  the  passengers  in  the  car  were  preachers  what  had  been  up  to 
Augusta  to  attend  the  convention.  They  was  the  dryest  set  of  old  codgers  I  ever 
met  with,  till  the  jolting  of  the  cars  shook  up  their  ideas  a  little,  and  then  they  fell  to 
disputin'  like  all  wrath,  —  Maj.  Jones's  Travels, 

WrAtht.     Very  angry.     A  colloquial  word.  —  Webster. 

Oh !  you  're  wrathj,  ain't  ye  ?  Why,  I  did  n't  mean  nothin*  but  what  was  civil ! 
—  Mrs.  Clavers's  Forest  Life,  Vol.  I.  p.  103s 

The  general  was  as  wrathy  as  thunder ;  and  when  he  gets  his  dander  up,  it 's  no 
joke.  —  Maj,  Downing's  Letters,  p.  34. 

Wreckers.    A  gang  of  Baltimore  rowdies. 

44 


t^ 


518  YAL  —  YAN 


Y. 

Yaller.     a  vulgar  pronunciation  of  yellow. 

Yam.  (Genus  Dioscorea.)  A  large  esculent  tuber  or  root  of  various 
climbing  plants  growing  in  tropical  America,  which  forms  a  wholesome 
and  palatable  food. 

Yank.     A  jerk.     New  England. 

In  some  verses  prefixed  to  the  New- Year's  Address  of  the  carrier  of 
"  The  Age,"  a  weekly  journal  published  in  Maine,  the  Carrier  Boy  asks 
the  spirit  of  Edgar  A.  Poe  to  write  him  a  few  lines. 

The  poet  looks  wild  at  the  blue-eyed  child, 

Then  clutches  him  by  the  hair, 
And  makes  him  abide  by  the  chimney-side, 

Af  he  sinks  back  in  his  chair  — 

Pulls  up  the  machine,  and  with  dreadful  mien 

He  oils  each  rusty  wheel. 
Then  seizes  the  crank,  and  with  many  a  yank     . 

Brings  out  a  poetic  squeal. 

To  Yank.     To  twitch  or  jerk  powerfully.     New  England. 

Yankee.     1.  The  popular  name  for  the  citizens  of  New  England,  but  ap- 
plied by  foreigners  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States.    The  name 
^  [  Yengees  or  Ye7ikees']  was  originally  given  by  the  Massachusetts  Indians 

to  the  English  colonists,  being  the  nearest  sound  they  could  give  for 
"  English."  It  was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Dutch  on  the  Hudson,  who 
applied  the  term  in  contempt  to  all  the  people  of  New  England.  During 
the  American  Revolution,  it  was  eagerly  caught  at  by  the  British  soldiers. 
—  Note  to  the  Poetical  Works  of  J.  Trumhull. 

Mr.  Heckewelder,  a  high  authority  on  Indian  subjects,  has  no  doubt 
that  the  word  was  the  first  effort  of  the  Indians  "  to  imitate  the  sound 
of  the  national  name  of,  the  English,  which  they  pronounced  Yengees." 
Furthermore  he  says,  the  Indians  "  say  they  know  the  Yengees  [i.  e.  the 
New  Englanders],  and  can  distinguish  them  by  their  dress  and  personal 
appearance,  and  that  they  were  considered  as  less  cruel  than  the  Virgin- 
ians, or  Long  Knives.  The  English  proper  they  call  Saggenash."  — 
Hist.  Ace.  of  the  Indian  'Nations,  p.  132. 

Judge  Durfee,  in  his  poem  called  "  Whatcheer :  or,  Roger  Williams  in 
Banishment,"  thus  mentions  the  English  under  this  name  : 
"  Ha  !  Yengee,"  said  the  Sachem,  "  wouldst  thou  go 
To  soothe  the  hungry  panther  scenting  blood  1  " 

Canto  m.  32. 


YAN  — YEA  519 

Base  Wampanoag !  we  '11  devour  that  clan, 
And  drive  the  Yengees  back  o'er  ocean  blue. 

Canto  IV.  38. 

An  interesting  article  on  this  word  in  "  Notes  and  Queries "  (1852, 
p.  57),  by  ]Mi%  T.  "Westcott  of  Philadelphia,  contains  a  letter  from  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Gordon,  giving  an  account  of  the  skirmishes  at  Concord  and 
Lexington,  in  which  he  says : 

They  [the  British  troops]  were  roughly  handled  by  the  Yankees,  a  term  of  re- 
proach for  the  New  Englanders,  when  applied  by  the  regulars. 

2.  In  New  England,  a  glass  of  whiskey  sweetened  with  molasses ;  a 
common  beverage  in  the  country. 

You  fine  Miss  Boston  lady  gay, 

For  this  your  speech  I  thank  ye. 
Call  on  me  when  you  come  this  way. 

And  take  a  dram  of  Yankee. 

Fessenden.     Yankee  Doodle  Song. 

Yankeefied.    After  the  Yankee  fashion ;  like  a  Yankee. 

The  Colonel  whittled  away  at  a  bit  of  stick  in  the  most  Yankeejied  way  possible. 
—  A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas,  p.  113. 

Yankeeland.     1.   New  England. 
2.   The  United  States. 

Yankee  Doodle.  There  has  "been  much  discussion  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
term  Yankee  Doodle,  and  of  the  well-known  tune  which  bears  this  name, 
without  coming  as  yet  to  any  very  satisfactory  conclusion.  In  England 
the  air  has  been  traced  back  to  the  time  of  Charles  I. ;  and  it  appears 
that  the  doggerel  verses  that  are  sung  to  it  can  claim  nearly  as  respect-^j<^^ 
able  an  antiquity.  This,  however,  is  not  all.  The  song  is  said  to  be 
identical  with  one  sung  by  the  agricultural  laborers  in  the  Netherlands. 
Kossuth  and  his  fellow  Hungarians,  when  in  this  country,  are  said  to 
have  recognised  it  as  one  of  the  old  national  airs  of  their  native  land. 
And  recently  Mr.  Buckingham  Smith,  our  then  Secretary  of  Legation  at 
Madrid,  has  asserted  that  it  is  the  ancient  Sword  Dance  of  the  Biscayans. 

Yeath,  for  earth.     A  vulgar  pronunciation   among  the  illiterate  at  the 
South. 

Why,  you  don't  look  like  the  same  man.     I  never  should  have  know'd  you. 
Wliat  upon  yeath  has  brung  you  out  so  V  —  Maj.  Jones's  Sketches. 

Yeathquake,  for  earthquake,    A  Southern  vulgarism,  like  the  previous 
word. 

The  Gurard  College  is  all  solid  brick  and  marble.    Fire  can't  get  hold  of  wood 
enough  to  raise  a  blaze,  and  the  walls  are  so  thick  and  strong  that  nothiu'  short  of 


520  YEL  — YOU 

riorida  lightnin'  or  a  South  American  yeathquake  could  n't  knock  it  down.  —  Maj, 
Jones's  Sketches. 

Yellow.  A  term  applied  to  colored  boys  and  girls  whose  complexion 
tends  towards  white ;  those  of  a  darker  hue  are  called  "  brown." 

Law  sakes,  Miss  Phillis,  does  you  tink  I  have  no  sense ;  I  hate  a  ycdler  gal  as  I  do 
poison.  —  Sam  Slick,  Human  Nature. 

Yellow  Cover  (pron.  yaller  kiver).  A  notice  of  dismissal  from  govern- 
ment employment.  So  called  from  its  being  usually  enclosed  in  a  yellow 
envelope. 

Yellow  Hammer.  (Picus  auratus.)  The  popular  name  of  the  Gold- 
en-winged Woodpecker,  the  most  beautiful  of  the  genus.  It  is  known, 
by  other  names  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  as  High-hole,  Yacker^- 
Clape,  etc. 

Yellow  Jacket.    A  small  wasp,  well  known  for  its  terrible  sting. 

Yellow  Root.     {Zanthorhiza  apnfolia.)     A  plant  whose  roots  are  used" 
as  a  dye  by  the  Indians.     It  is  also  medicinal. 

Yellow  Throat.    A  small  singing  bird  of  the  warbler  species. 

Yere.    a  Southern  pronunciation  for  here.' 

"  "Why  is  it,  my  son,  that  when  you  drop  your  bread  and  butter,  it  is  always  butter 
side  down  1 " 

"I  don't  know.  It  had  n't  oughter,  had  it.  The  strongest  side  ought  to  be  upper- 
most, had  n't  it,  ma  1  And  this  yere  is  the  strongest  butter  I  ever  seed."  —  Cairo 
(Illinois)  Times,  Feb.  28,  1855. 

YoPON.     (^Ilex  vomitoria.)     North  Carolina  tea.     A  plant  indigenous  to 

North  Carolina  ;  and  when  the  leaves  are  dried  by  slow  heat,  and  infused 

in  water,  it  is  used  as  a  beverage.     It  is  shghtly  intoxicating.    It  belongs 

to  the  same  genus  of  plants  as  the  celebrated  Mate  {Ilex  paraguayensis) 

y  -j^  A)  o^  South  America. 

You  Dox't  !  for  you  dorUt  say  so  !  i.  e.  really !  indeed  !  "  Mr.  Grimaldi 
threw  a  back  somerset  out  of  a  three-story  window."  "  Now,  you 
dont!" 

I  YouRN.     This  is  a  contraction  of  your  own,  or  a  change  in  the  termination 

/  of  the  pronoun  yours,  in  conformity  with  mine,  and  which  is  much  used 

/  by  the  illiterate   and  vulgar.     It  is  also   used  in  London   and  in  the 

/  West  of  England.     "The  cockney,"  says  Mr.  Pegge,  "considers  such 

(  words  as  our  own  and  your  own  as  pronouns  possessive,  a  little  too  much 


YUC— ZEE  521 

press  them  into  the  words  ourn  and  yourn,  for  common  daily  use."  — 
Anecdotes  of  the  English  Language,  p.  193.  Compare  Hern  and 
Hisn. 

YucKER.     See  Glape. 


Z. 


Zapote.     See  Sapote. 
Zeewan.     See  Seawan. 


APPENDIX. 


PROVEKBS. 

Ambition  is  as  hollow  as  the  soul  of  an  echo. 

Tide,  steamboats,  and  soda  water  will  wait  for  no  one. 

Big  feet,  like  a  leather  shirt,  are  more  for  use  than  ornament. 

Money  slips  from  the  fingers  like  a  watermelon  seed,  travels  without  legs,  and 
flies  without  wings. 

It  is  the  lot  of  humanity  to  err  at  times,  as  the  drunken  man  said  when  he  mis- 
took the  pig-pen  for  his  bedroom. 

A  good  deed  will  stick  out,  with  an  inclination  to  spread,  like  the  tail  of  a  pea- 
cock. 

Evil  actions,  like  crushed  rotten  eggs,  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  all. 

You  might  as  well  undertake  to  whistle  a  grape-vine  from  a  white-oak,  as  to  in- 
duce a  girl  to  relinquish  her  lover. 

Vice  is  a  skunk  that  smells  awfully  rank  when  stirred  up  by  the  pole  of  misfor- 
tune. 


SIMILES, 


As  big  as  all  out  of  doors. 

As  dry  as  the  clerk  of  a  lime-kiln. 

As  long  as  a  thanksgiving  sermon. 

As  crooked  as  a  Virginia  fence. 

As  straight  as  a  loon's  leg. 

As  straight  as  a  shingle. 

As  sharp  as  the  little  end  of  nothing. 

As  slick  as  greased  lightning. 

As  smiling  as  a  basket  of  chips. 

As  happy  as  a  clam  at  high-water. 

(623) 


524 


APPENDIX. 


As  tight  as  the  bark  of  a  tree. 
As  crazy  as  a  bedbug. 
As  mad  as  all  wrath. 

As  Avrathy  as  a  militia  officer  on  a  training-day. 
As  proud  as  a  tame  turkey. 

As  melancholy  as  a  Quaker  meeting-house  by  moonlight. 
As  useless  as  whistling  psalms  to  a  dead  horse- 
Like  all  nature. 
Like  all  fury. 
Like  all  possessed. 

Thrashing  round  like  a  short-tailed  bull  iii  fly-time. 
Head  and  tail  up,  like  chicken-cocks  in  laying-time. 


ABBREVIATIONS. 


Ala. 

Alabama. 

Miss. 

Mississippi. 

Ark. 

Arkansas. 

Mo. 

Missouri. 

C.  H. 

Court  House. 

N.  C. 

North  Carolina. 

COXN. 

Connecticut. 

N.  H. 

New  Hampshire. 

Del. 

Delaware. 

N.  M. 

New  Mexico. 

F.  V. 

First  Family  of  Virginia. 

N.  Y. 

New  York. 

Ga. 

Georgia. 

0. 

Ohio. 

Ia. 

Iowa. 

0.  K. 

Oil  Korrekt,  i.  e.  All  correct. 

III. 

Illinois. 

0.  T. 

Oregon  Territory. 

Ind. 

Indiana. 

Pa. 

Pennsylvania. 

K.  T. 

Kanzas  Territory. 

R.  I. 

Rhode  Island. 

Ky. 

Kentucky. 

S.  C. 

South  Carolina. 

La. 

Louisiana. 

Tenx. 

Tennessee. 

M.  C. 

Member  of  Congress. 

V. 

A  five  dollar  bill. 

Mass. 

Massachusetts. 

Va.. 

Virginia. 

Md. 

Maryland. 

Vt. 

Vermont. 

Me. 

Maine. 

W.  T. 

Washington  Territory. 

Mich. 

IVIichigan. 

X. 

A  ten  dollar  bill. 

END. 


1187^3 


